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CBPXRIGHT DEPOSE 



THE DESCENDING LIGHT 







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MRS. JOSEPHINE M BRACE 

(Independent Voice and Trance Manifestations) 

196 Norwalk Avenue, Buffalo. New York 



A Series of Lessons 

From Higher Intelligences 

on the 

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Infinite Lore VH^zaSSBd Universal Harmony 



Absolute Wisdom 



Lovingly Dedicated to Humanity 

by 

Mrs. Josephine M. Brace 

Buffalo, New York 



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Copyright 1922 

By Josephine M. Brace, Buffalo, N. Y., 

All Rights Reserved. 



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Press of John F. Higgins 
376 W. Monroe St., Chicago 



Printed in the United States of America 

©C1A686128 

AUG 16 1922 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Sketch of Mrs. Brace's Mediumship. 7 

Foreword 19 

Purpose of the Book 33 

Chapter 

I. The Astral Body 37 

II. Life on the Astral Plane 78 

III. Personal Experiences on the Astral 

Plane 100 

IV. Heaven — What You Make It 137 

V. Who Takes Care of Our Children Gone 

Before? . .160 

VI. Protective Forces 183 

VII. Invisible Helpers 199 

VIII. How Help Those Gone Before 216 

IX. Earthbound Spirits 228 

X. Whither Are You Going 263 

XI. Universal Brotherhood 288 

XII. The New Day 309 



SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE'S MEDIUMSHIP. 

Thru the spiritual mediumship of Mrs. Josephine 
Brace many wonderful things have been gathered 
from the world of spirit. And because of the gen- 
eral spiritual awakening of man in the physical 
expression of life it has been thought wise to gather 
this knowledge under different headings, or chap- 
ters, and put it in the form of a book so that all 
who are interested in learning more of the life 
"beyond the grave" may know how to communi- 
cate with those in spirit ; how to approach the sacred 
chamber of communication; how to avoid the dan- 
gers which beset the unenlightened minds, and how 
to prepare themselves for spirit communication. 

For the benefit of those who may not know of the 
great work which is being accomplished thru this 
gifted mediumship, a sketch of Mrs. Brace's life 
follows— which is best told in her own words. 

"It is the mystery of the unknown that fascin- 
ates us; we are all children still; wayward and 
wistful; with one hand we cling to the familiar 
things we call our own, and with the other, resolute 
of will, grope in the dark for what the day will 
bring." 

As I look back thru the memory chambers of my 
soul, I find that the predominant quality within 
me, all thru life, has been an indescribable fascina- 
tion and love of mystery — the unknown ; and it was 



8 SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 

this which caused me to find so much solace in se- 
cret prayer — for was not the God to whom I prayed 
a something of mystery? 

So it was this which caused me to seek after the 
souls of the departed, and find, first, the wondrous 
power within the soul of man, and then the hidden 
way to heaven; then the souls of those who had 
gone before ; and now the means of bringing to my 
fellow-man positive and indisputable communica- 
tions from the world beyond the grave— the proof 
of which thousands are convinced today. 

Many and varied were the experiences I had in 
my sojourns into the silence in prayer and spiritual 
meditation — even in my early childhood, every lit- 
tle trouble I carried into the silence in prayer and 
always felt refreshed and comforted after reach- 
ing out in prayerful aspiration toward God. 

Very early in life I often foresaw coming events, 
and also had beautiful visions, which, when I re- 
lated them, caused my family to say, "Oh, what a 
vivid imagination that child has" and, "We must 
break her of all this nonsense," or "That child 
prays too much," etc. 

When I was but 13 years old, a sad and unfor- 
gotten day came— my darling mother lay seriously 
ill; and they said she could not live. My mother 
must die ! There were six little children, and I was 
the oldest— oh, how could God, who loves us all, 
take our mother away like this? No! no! I must 
ask Him to spare her to us. Oh! He must — does 
He not know what it means to take our mother from 
us,— six little helpless children? God who loves 
and is love, and can do all things, surely will not do 



SKETCH OF MES. BRACE S MEDIUMSHIP. V 

this. Thus the thoughts ran thru my consciousness ; 
and I sought a place where I could be all alone to 
talk with the Father— to pray— to ask that our 
mother be allowed to stay with us a little while 
longer. 

The house being full of friends and relatives, I 
went to the attic, just to be alone with God; then 
I sank upon my knees and oh, the anguish of soul 
I felt as I ardently begged of Him, the maker and 
cause of all things, to spare our dear mother to us. 

'Oh, God, we are so little and so helpless, we 
need our mother so much just now. Look, oh, Lord, 
at baby sister — who will take care of her? Lord, do 
you know all? Do you love all? If you do, please 
hear me, a helpless child pleading for a mother to 
guide and help us ; hear the voice of a little child in 
grief crying that you please spare mamma!' 

As I knelt there pouring out my very soul to God, 
this thought came to me— why should I attempt to 
show Him the way when all my life, all my power, 
my all, comes from Him? He knows best what is 
well for all, and I must resign myself to His will. 
Oh! must I give up my mother? Oh! I cannot— she 
must live— she must stay with us. Now came a 
struggle with my will and then victory — I was able 
to say sincerely, ' Oh, God, if it be Thy will take my 
mother — Thou knowest best— I know that in Thy 
hands all things are right.' 

Then came an inexpressible calm and peace — in- 
tense silence— and a great radiant light cast its* 
wondrous rays upon me — I felt a presence — I saw a 
holy and indescribable, dazzling light ; and lo, within 
that light I beheld the form of a man whose features 



10 SKETCH OF MES. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 

were perfect, and with his right hand uplifted these 
words seemed to come from a distance and sounded 
upon my ears, ' ' My child, my child, ere the sun shall 
have risen again, the soul of your mother will have 
flown, but you shall always be protected and guided. ' ' 

Then a blank— I knew nothing more until in the 
darkness of the night my father, who had been 
searching for me everywhere, forced open the attic 
door, which I had locked, and gathered me in his 
arms saying, "Why do you do this, child— we have 
been hunting for you for hours." And as he car- 
ried me down the stairs I cried, ' ' Oh, papa I I have 
seen God, and He said that mamma is going to die 
before the sun rises again." Father suddenly 
placed his hand over my lips and said, "Hush, don't 
ever say that again— no one has ever seen God; you 
were exhausted and fainted — probably dreamed 
that you saw God. Never say that again or people 
will call you crazy." And so I was silenced; but in 
my childish dreams of God I thought of Him as a 
man all powerful, all beautiful, all love, mercy and 
goodness because I could not comprehend mind 
without body ; and so I believed that God must nec- 
essarily be a perfect embodiment of all these quali- 
ties. And when- the messenger of light, the min- 
istering angel, my guide and helper brought this 
message to me, I thought in my childlike simplicity 
that he was God. 

After my mother's death, which came just as the 
messenger had said, our home was broken up and 
we little ones were scattered but many times I felt 
the presence of my angel mother, and knew that I 
had her guidance and help thru many hard and 



SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 11 

rough places in the four years following her pass- 
ing; during which time many changes took place 
and I found new friends and associates. At all 
times and upon all occasions I never attempted any- 
thing without first seeking advice in the silence, 
in prayer and soul communion, at which times I al- 
ways felt that my angel mother inspired me to do 
or not to do. Whilst I did not hear her voice, I felt 
her presence and knew her will. 

One night a girl friend invited me to go with her 
to the home of another friend, and while there, for 
the first time, I witnessed table tipping; it seemed 
strange but rather interesting to me to see the table 
tip in response to the queries of those in the room. 
I did not place my hands upon the table, but merely 
witnessed the manifestation— as they did not ex- 
plain the nature of the performance I had no idea 
of its being an intelligence out of the body who was 
moving the table, but all the way home I was filled 
with wonderment and when I reached home, told 
my father about my experience. He said it was the 
magnetism in the hands governed by the mind, but 
even then I wanted to investigate further for it 
seemed so mysterious to me. 

One evening, father, sister and I sat around a 
table and after holding our hands upon it for a lit- 
tle time it moved. It did not respond intelligently 
to our questions, but it moved— which was to me 
very wonderful, for I knew positively that none of 
us moved it, and I was convinced that some unseen 
force had caused that table to move. After several 
attempts we were able to get intelligent answers to 
our questions. Altho no reference to life after 



12 SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 

death, or there being any intelligence other than our 
own, was made, and at that time we believed it to be 
the magnetism governed by our own minds, yet I 
was still very much interested— it all seemed so 
mysterious, and doubly so when the table suddenly 
stood still and we could not get it to move. After 
trying for about half an hour we were just about to 
give up when distinctly we heard several tiny raps 
upon the table, and finally, after we had asked sev- 
eral questions, the raps spelled, p-r-a-y! p-r-a-y! 
We thought this rather strange, but did pray sin- 
cerely and altho the raps were very faint they were 
distinct. 

From that time the table never tipped for us, but 
the raps always responded intelligently to our ques- 
tions. After the first request to pray, we always 
began our sittings in sincere prayer and silent spirit- 
ual meditation. 

Some time after that, in the City of Pittsburgh, 
Pa., several young ladies, I among them, were 
gathered around a little table and having the mys- 
terious raps responding to our questions, when one 
of the girls said, "Did you ever try darkening the 
room? I believe we could be more passive and less 
frivolous in the darkness." So we spent our even- 
ings thus, frequently; when finally one evening I 
saw, much to my amazement, the form of a woman. 
For an instant I felt as if I were paralyzed, and 
when I recovered sufficiently to speak, I said, ' ' Girls, 
T wonder if it is well for us to do this? I have just 
seen the form of a woman not in the flesh. I am 
sure of it for she stood right in front of me. " * ' Can 
you describe her?" asked one of the girls. So I 



SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 13 

described the form in every detail, it was so clear 
to me. One of the girls recognized her from the 
description and gasped, "Oh, who was it?" And 
very faintly but distinctly a voice, coming not from 
any physical organs, responded, ' ' Charlotte Morgan 
— Johnstown Flood. ' ' We all heard it very clearly. 
* * Oh ! ' ' exclaimed the yonng lady, ' - that is my aunt 
Charlotte, who was drowned at Johnstown, Pa., in 
the terrible flood." 

Now, we were all overcome with fear and appre- 
hension, and immediately illuminated the room, 
feeling that we had done something we ought not to 
have done. What had caused this? Had we been 
treading upon forbidden ground, or was this some 
unseen, unknown power within us which had only 
now become evident? Yet I could not think that it 
was evil since we were so sincere and prayerful in 
our thoughts ; and felt that it must be the awakening 
of some mysterious power within us. Here I sug- 
gested that we go together to the home of J — A — , 
where I had first witnessed table tipping; so we 
hastened and after explaining to them what a 
strange experience we had had, we, together with 
J. A. and his wife, once again sat around their table 
in a darkened room and offered a sincere, soulful 
prayer; after which we sat in silent spiritual 
thought. There was no more tipping of the table 
or raps, but after a little time of waiting a sweet 
voice, which we all heard clearly, said, "Josie, my 
child, God bless you — it is not wrong — it is true. I am 
always with you and all my children, papa, too,— 
poor papa, tell him I never went far away. It is 
mamma, dear, just mamma." 



14 SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE 's MEDITJMSHIP. 

I was completely overcome for a time, for I recog- 
nized my angel mother — not by the sound of her 
voice (for that was just like the finest little whistle) 
but by my mother's manner of speech, etc. My 
mother— I knew it was she— she always called my 
father "papa" as she did then. There were other 
just as convincing messages which came to the dif- 
ferent ones there, among them a message from a 
gentleman who said we should sing, that the sound 
of the spirit voices would be stronger as they used 
the sound waves to convey the messages to us so 
that we could hear them thru our physical sense of 
hearing. 

Now, I was intensely interested, for to me it was 
most sacred and beautiful. At this time none of us 
realized that this power was within any particular 
individual, but we just thought that it came to us 
all, and the wonder of it overwhelmed us so that we 
did not think of anything except that our loved ones 
in spirit were there talking to us. So night after 
night we sat together and always found so much 
comfort and good from the loving advice of our 
friends in the other world. 

After my father had talked with my spirit mother 
and she had told him of things known only to himself 
and her, he was thoroughly convinced that it was 
she who manifested to him. 

It was some time before we knew who of our num- 
ber was the medium that had the power to bring the 
independent spirit voice; in fact, we had not given 
it a thought, but occasionally one of the girls would 
be absent, still the manifestations continued just the 
same until there came a time when I was absent 



SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 15 

then there were no results— and thus it was we 
learned that this mediumistic power was within me. 

It was all so sacred to us, we did not wish to have 
strangers know of it, so we kept it a secret ; only our 
most intimate friends knew of our meetings. 

After a time I married and went to another city 
to live. My husband and I found great comfort and 
help in sitting and receiving communications from 
his father, my mother, and many others in spirit 
life, who came to talk with us. Again we kept this 
just among ourselves, but as we began to form new 
friendships some learned of it and asked to join our 
little circle, always so sacred to us, and they prom- 
ised to keep our little meetings secret. But the joy 
and wonderment which came thru the reunion of 
families which had been separated by the "Grim 
Reaper" just couldn't be kept secret and one by one 
a friend here and a friend there would in some way 
learn of it, and they, too, begged to join us— so how 
could I refuse or deny them the privilege of hear- 
ing from their loved ones who had passed on"? 

So many were seeking for tidings of their loved 
ones that it became necessary for me to give all my 
time to the work — altho it was nine years after I re- 
ceived my first message before I entered into pub- 
lic work. 

When we saw the great comfort and happiness it 
gave to the people, and the wonderful proof it was 
of life after death, we began to wonder why we had 
not tried to learn something of the continuity of life 
and the laws regarding it, so my husband and I set 
aside one evening each week, and we sat together 
just to learn of the life beyond. When our loved 



16 SKETCH OF MBS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 

ones came we asked them to help us in our search, 
and finally one evening a teacher in spirit came to 
ns and spoke just a few words— he spoke so slowly, 
and the words were so far apart that my husband 
was able to write them as given. There were only 
five or six words the first time, then the next week 
a few more were added, and so on, until finally sen- 
tences were completed. 

"We continued in this way until the teacher ad- 
vised us to create some vibration while he was 
speaking as he thought this would enable him to 
speak longer and perhaps louder— so my husband 
played the mouth organ, and the voice surely was 
clearer, and we were much pleased with our efforts 
for there was a gradual improvement until the 
spirit voice became distinct and quite audible. 

(To assist in the creation of sound waves at first the mouth 
organ was used, then a little music box and after that an 
auto-harp, and now today, the wonderful invention, the elec- 
tric Victrola relieves the physical strain of playing the auto- 
harp.) 

Thus the Circles of Light originated ; as I realized 
that in my mediumship I held a key to the realms of 
the unseen and unknown world beyond the grave, 
and thru the proper use of this key many minds 
became enlightened upon the subject of the present 
and future life of man. 

The little circle formed for the purpose of glean- 
ing more light from that other life across the dark 
mysterious chasm called death, grew until there 
were so many that it was necessary to form the 
second circle, and today there are many learned 
people studying the laws of life under the tutor- 
ship of the higher intelligences who are conducting 



SKETCH OP MKS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 17 

the different Circles of Light of which there are 
now four in Buffalo and two in Rochester, N. Y. 
With the aid of the electric Victrola the voices of 
the teachers are full-toned and capable of filling a 
large auditorium. 

The students in the Circles of Light receive their 
instruction direct from disembodied intelligences in 
the independent audible voice, and are being pre- 
pared for a great work in the illuminating of the 
minds of men benumbed and darkened by the false 
teachings of the past. 

The new day is dawning and men shall hunger for 
the things of the soul ; so there will be need of much 
thought and light along the line of seership and the 
students are being taught how to unfold the inner 
spiritual self and develop the powers within that 
they may be able to properly impart some of that 
knowledge to their fellow-man. 

No one is admitted into the Circle of Light until 
passed upon or approved by the spiritual instruc- 
tors. Upon entering the class a student has to take 
a preparatory course, the length of which depends 
upon the individual student, after which he is passed 
on into chapters and degrees according to his inner 
unfoldment. 

Hundreds, yes, thousands, have found absolute 
proof of the continuity of life, spirit return and 
spirit communion in these classes, and the message 
circles where loved ones speak entirely indepen- 
dent of any physical organs, trumpet, or any means 
of conveying sound except the sound waves which 
are created by their songs and prayer — all in the 
room hear the messages that come to the different 



18 SKETCH OF MRS. BRACE 's MEDIUMSHIP. 

ones present, myself included, for I am perfectly 
normal and not entranced during the manifestations. 

And now this book I dedicate to humanity with 
all the love and sympathy I feel for my fellow-men 
who have not had the wonderful privilege of hearing 
"the voice of the spirit"; and I send it forth with 
the hope that it will cast as bright a light upon their 
highway of life as the wonderful truths it contains 
have upon me and mine. 

It is thru the kindness and effort of my dear 
friend and secretary, Mrs. Agnes E. Smith, who 
has been so faithful and true in taking notes and 
compiling reports of stenographers of the different 
classes and helping me to place these wonderful 
teachings in book form, that it is possible for me 
to send it forth as a messenger of light. 

That this will be to dear humanity all that it is 
meant to be is my sincere desire. 

JOSEPHINE M. BRACE. 



FOREWOBD. 

With the exception of the sketch of Mrs. Brace's medium- 
ship, all of the material in this book was received entirely 
from the world of spirit thru the independent voice and trance 
lectures; and the spirit teachers have personally advised in the 
compilation of the different chapters. The following contains 
excerpts from different trance lectures, which began to come 
thru ten years ago. 

It has been said by many that no man has returned 
from the silent tomb to tell of the wondrons journey, 
but today there are few who have not felt or known 
something of those who have passed from the flesh 
body. No longer can men say, "Dead men tell no 
tales," because men who have investigated know 
that man's secrets are not buried in the grave; men 
are returning from the grave to say, "Dead men do 
live." 

Man has come into that state of unfoldment where 
it is possible for him to dare to reach into that mys- 
terious part of life; he has come to that stage of 
mental development and spiritual unfoldment where 
it is possible for him to pierce the veil twixt him and 
God's stupendous seat— death. 

Now that spirit return is no longer questioned by 
thinking men and women, it is time that one begins 
to use this knowledge and aspire to greater things 
thru the light of spirit. 

TMs wondrous law of Nature should not be abused 
by ignorant minds. 



20 FOREWORD 

The law of spirit communion has been terribly 
abused by illiterate minds, immoral and material 
minds— minds which are sensitive but which at- 
tempt to investigate this sacred" law without first 
purifying their souls and making themselves worthy 
of communicating with an angel. So they have come 
in contact with spirits who have not progressed, and 
who will advise them how to spend their money — 
tell a man to divorce his wife, etc. 

True, there are spirits who will do this, but not 
pure, spiritual spirits. But thru all of this the true 
light is penetrating the souls of men. Spirit com- 
munion does not degrade a man nor bring him down 
to a lower plane, as a great many people think. 

The spirit is the God part of man, and if his life 
is pure, no other soul can ever bring him into dark- 
ness, unless that spirit comes to him into his own 
aura and thru his own vibration. 

Spirit return is a beautiful thing; one of God's 
glorious privileges, given to man in his spiritual 
growth; so in your communion with your loved 
ones gone before, meet them in spiritual thought, 
let them help you find your weaknesses and over- 
come your faults; help you into the higher things, 
but please do not draw the souls of the departed 
down to the coarse material things. 

Oh, friends, do not invite your loved ones into 
the thought in which many of you live and think all 
of the time; forget the physical, do not drag them 
back into the problems of your daily material life — 
no — but ascend spiritually to them and you will feel 
the clasp of their hands and the kiss of their lips 
and the song of their souls. Clothe yourself in 



FOEEWOKD 21 

truth, indestructible truth, and you will find the 
power within you to think good, to act good, to seem 
good, and to be good. 

So let us clasp your hands in the spirit of good 
fellowship and start upon the journey, upon the 
highway of investigation, searching for your loved 
ones in spirit with all the love possible in the illum- 
ination of the soul. 

Let Truth be your watchword; harmony your 
key; love and charity your stepping stones; and 
morality your staff— and behold, the great light 
overspreading which is incomprehensible to the 
physical mind — Infinite Love, Universal Harmony, 
Absolute Wisdom. 

So many do not always realize that the experience 
called death does not make a man all wise, nor does 
it make him a perfect soul. 

The experience of death is not a purification. 
The individual who manifested to you thru that 
flesh body which you laid away is just the same in- 
dividual tomorrow in the new life. If he was truth- 
ful in the flesh, so will he be when he steps into his 
astral body, and if he was not truthful in the flesh, 
death has not changed his characteristics nor made 
of him a more perfect man than he was the day he 
left that body; he must start upon the journey of 
progression just where he was when he left that 
physical body. 

No one desires more than I to have all men know 
that their dead can return and speak; that they are 
not gone forever; that they are near you, but it 
grieves me deeply to see so many plunging into the 
dangerous field of investigation with absolutely no 



22 FOREWORD 

knowledge along the line of spirit communion and 
continuity of life. Again and again have I made 
this statement, prepare yourself first before you 
delve into the communion of spirits. Learn some- 
thing of the laws which govern this because pro- 
miscuous sitting with strangers, of whose lives you 
know nothing, promiscuous sitting with men whose 
lives you would not dare to touch upon is a very 
dangerous thing to do. 

It is important that you prepare yourself and that 
you know whom you are calling into your home, for 
the home of the soul is ever about you and it is very 
hard to get rid of a guest invited into the home 
of the soul. They will stay with you; not the spoken 
words passing from your lips will send them away; 
you must learn how to communicate thru the soul 
and build about yourself strong protective forces, 
which can be accomplished by spiritual development 
and unfoldment. Spiritualize your highway of com- 
munication in a prayerful way. 

Do you know that walking with you daily there 
really are souls out of the flesh who are of the same 
quality that you are? If your thoughts are selfish, 
do you believe that you will attract unselfishness? 
If you are spiteful and full of hate, do you think 
that you will attract love? All about you they are 
just like you, some holding one of your predominat- 
ing qualities and some another, but your own char- 
acteristics govern the characteristics and qualities 
of the souls who are about you, and if you sit down 
for communication, why, how do you expect to re- 
ceive messages from spiritual souls when all about 
you are those of a lower expression? 



FOREWORD 23 

So let me tell you, friends, as you are starting 
upon the beautiful journey along the highway of 
spirit investigation, searching for souls gone be- 
fore, prepare for your journey, purify your 
thoughts; make yourselves worthy of communica- 
tion from exalted souls that this may not only lift 
you spiritually but that you may aid the souls of 
those you love and who have gone on a little way 
ahead of you and are attracted to you thru the love 
line. 

Spirit communion today is very much misinter- 
preted, misunderstood. Men have not been able to 
separate mind reading and spirit communication; 
they have been unable to separate the various meth- 
ods of communication ; or to know enough of the hid- 
den laws of God to investigate intelligently that 
they may know the things they are doing when they 
dare to investigate along the hidden laws of life and 
the great laws of Nature. The thing that man must 
first learn is how to separate these different vibra- 
tions. He must learn how to investigate the laws 
of life intelligently and not go forth blindly and 
ignorantly, thus being caught in the great net of 
(man calls it) obsession — the disease prophesied 
here upon this platform some time ago, that dread 
disease which would eventually come upon the earth 
plane and which would cause much insanity, unex- 
plainable, undiagnosed by mortal mind of man in 
the flesh. But it will be governed and controlled 
and overcome only thru the spirit and the manifes- 
tation of spirit thru the proper manipulation of the 
laws of communication, and by the proper reception 
of the spirit teachings. 



24 FOEEWOED 

As man reaches out blindly into the hidden world 
there is also danger of his being obsessed by in- 
ferior intelligences whose bodies are gone, and be- 
cause of the great destructive condition which came 
upon the earth plane, souls have been taken out of 
their physical bodies before their earth expression 
was completed. Souls were cast into that new life 
with feelings of hate and murder in their hearts and 
they will hold those thoughts for a time until they 
have been touched by the light of spirit. 



Today, in' spite of all the fear thoughts, the 
prejudice, and the ignorance— in spite of all these— 
men in every walk of life are individually searching 
for light, for knowledge of life after death. The 
rapping between the two worlds has caught their at- 
tention ; the individual no longer lives and thinks in 
groups the thoughts which other men have created, 
but he is utilizing the will power and thought force 
within him and reaching up in his search. No longer 
is man standing still, for every individual is real- 
izing that he is a thinking power ; he has within him 
the power to think. Why has man been imbued by 
his creator with the power to think, if it were not 
well for him to use that power for good? 

The minds of men are hungering for knowledge 
along the line of spiritual things, but because in 
earlier ages when they dared to penetrate the walls 
of mystery, the edicts held out "forbidden" and the 
world stopped there, so far as that investigation 
was concerned. But today, when once again the 
minds of men in greater numbers and stronger 
quality are daring to ask the same question, the call 



FOREWOED 25 

that comes out "forbidden," is unheard— it is heard 
only by those who fear. The man who fears today 
is the one who is being left behind in the great prog- 
ress of the world of thought. The man who fears is 
the one who will let any other mind tell him that 
anything is right or wrong. Why should he lean 
upon any other mind when he is endowed with the 
same power to think and to reason? The same 
power is within him as is within any other individ- 
ual ; the same God is his God, the God of the great 
universe, the same great mind that governs the lay- 
man governs the ecelesiast; the same great mind 
that governs the laborer governs the great man in 
the material world; the same God of the universe 
governs all things. And yet these minds will say to 
their fellow-men, do not do this and do not do that— 
and the very same minds that tell them this know 
nothing of the things they have forbidden their fel- 
low-men to investigate. 

Do not lean upon the thought of this one or that 
one, do not follow the commands of a murderous 
mind; follow the commands of a great mind which 
says truth may fall, but truth shall ever rise; fol- 
low the dictates of your own conscience, for man 
can never get away from himself thru all the ages. 
Thru all the ages you will continue to be YOU. This 
is not theory— it is the word which has come from 
the souls across the sea called death; it is the mes- 
sage of safety which has been conveyed to man 
from the silent shore. 

Man in his eagerness to know, to hear from 
whence he came, sought to find the inner composition 
of things. Beginning in the lower elements it was 



26 FOBEWOBD 

all right with the mind who dared to dominate, but 
when the investigative minds of thinking men be- 
gan to penetrate the things which they call mys- 
terious, things which they call secrets, which ought 
not be known by the minds of men in the flesh, then 
they were forbidden to continue ; and so it has been 
in all ages. Today the door again swings open and 
the minds of men are becoming quickened once again 
and they are responding to a something which calls 
them to investigate. And again we hear it very dis- 
tinctly sounding out thru the universe from minds 
incarnate, "Do not investigate; it is evil — it is evil." 

For man to know himself— it is evil? For man 
to seek a higher light— it is evil? To know why he 
he is and into what and where he will go— it is evil? 
Is it? 

Do you think the mind of any thinking man would 
permit him to believe that God, who is ALL GOOD ; 
God, who is all Justice; God who is all love; God, 
who is all mercy; god, who is all compassion; God, 
who hath a clear understanding, the perfect under- 
standing, would forbid man after having endowed 
him with the power to think, forbid his using those 
powers to know more of himself ; more of life ; more 
of what he is and what he is to be; more of the 
things of the earth; the planet upon Which he will 
manifest; more of the plane upon which he will 
manifest after passing from this? Do you? Does 
any reasoning individual who can and does think, 
believe this? 

But the minds of the men who dared to send out 
the order in the past ages that the study of the great 
laws of life by the laymen must not continue, are 



FOEEWOKD 27 

today striving to do the same thing. Can it be ac- 
complished? 

In speaking of this great knowledge of spirit 
communion, they say as they argue against man's 
individual investigation that the air is full of de- 
mons who were cast out from the heavens thousands 
of years ago — but thinking men cannot accept this 
because science has proved the fact that man has 
returned and proved his identity ; and of the demons 
there is no absolute proof, merely theory. But 
thousands of people accept this argument. Why? 
Because the masses have been taught to lean upon 
the teachings of some few thinkers, to lean upon 
some one else's theory; they have depended upon 
some one to save them. But today men are in- 
dividually awakening, they are learning how to cul- 
tivate the inner powers; learning how to find the 
kingdom of heaven which is within them. Men who 
never studied until the last year or two are begin- 
ning to study ; something makes them want to know 
and so they delve into the interior of things— it is a 
part of the great law of evolution. 

The walls have been broken down. There is 
naught between you and that realm beyond but just 
a little bridge. You have stood at the bridge and 
feared the way; and now as your loved ones call to 
you from just across the bridge, they are so happy 
and so natural, they still love and speak in the same 
old way, but they love you with a deeper love, a 
stronger love, and they speak to you out of the very 
depths of their souls; and the words they speak to 
you hold a great lesson. 



28 FOREWOBD 

All things have been abused by man, as in our 
modern time the law of communication, has it not 
been abused? Has it not been bitterly abused? Has 
it not been trifled with? Have not men in their 
eagerness to delve into the unseen been caught in 
the great web of insanity? Yes, but let me tell you, 
do not forbid him or her to investigate because it is 
evil— suggesting to them, for they will go eventually 
to search for loved ones. Do not suggest to them 
that it is evil for they may go in a sneaking way or 
filled with deception or shame or things filled with 
earthy thoughts. Let them go in a spiritual way to 
protect humanity. Oh, do not say it is evil, and 
forbid them. As soon as you know it is true and 
you know it is good then teach them how to com- 
municate, teach them something of the dangers and 
something of the blessings of communion with 
spirit; teach them how to communicate with the 
dead, so to speak. Teach them that they may not 
open the door continually to receive their guests 
from the spirit side; teach them when to open the 
door in spiritual thought and prayerful aspiration 
to receive their guests from the world beyond. 

Men in their blindness and in their eagerness will 
investigate even when other minds suggest to them 
that it is evil; they will continue to investigate- 
some just to satisfy their curiosity; and it is going 
to break up the great monopoly of churches, of sects 
and denominations ; it is going to bring men together 
— the Jew and the Gentile, the Indian and China- 
man, all races; yes, and it is going to bring the 
churches together. 

The ecclesiasts in their foresight see what will 



FOEEWOED 29 

ultimately come about and they are striving to hold 
back the minds of men — it will be some struggle— 
but, aye, the time has come and the age has come 
when the masses are mentally fit to reach out into 
the hidden laws of life. Today, when every mind 
is asking something of the life beyond the grave, 
when everywhere thinkers are talking pro and con, 
we feel that it is the duty of those who can to come 
to man and tell him something of the great law 
which governs spirit communion. 'Tis well to tell 
mankind to search ; 'tis well to tell him the dead, 
so-called, can return, but 'tis better to prepare him, 
to teach him how to investigate and to communicate 
with those who have experienced death — to teach 
him how to find his loved ones gone before. 

It is because of the ignorance of the laws of nature 
that man meets with all misfortunes. In the inves- 
tigation of any great power of the universe, unless 
one understands something of its law, it is danger- 
ous to do this. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, if you 
only knew what you are doing when you sit in jest 
for spirit communion; when you take your ouija 
board before you in jest, in fun, in laughter— just 
to amuse you. Oh, do you not realize that that law 
which opens the gates between, that law which 
brings back to you v those who have passed on is too 
sacred for you to use simply for your amusement 
and for material gain. If those who do this could 
only realize, if they could see thru the eye of spirit 
the things they are doing, they would never do it. 

There are two distinct forces in the great law of 
nature in the universe, one is constructive, the other 
destructive. So 'tis well that those who can come 



30 FOREWOKD 

in touch with men in the physical expression to teach 
them something of this great law, to show them thru 
spiritual thought what it really is. What is the 
spiritual vision? It is that which reveals to man the 
hidden things of life — why, it is understanding. And 
so when you penetrate the walls between in ignor- 
ance, when you do it blindly, what can you expect 1 ? 

So in your investigation as to whether or not we 
are all being fooled, and whether or not the atmos- 
phere is full of demons whom this great, just, holy, 
pure and infinite God has let come back to deceive 
his children— would a God of love do this? Oh, no, 
brothers and sisters, it is because they are spirit- 
ually blind that they have allowed this theory, these 
stories to take root in the undeveloped mind and to 
stand between them and God. No just and perfect 
God would say to any undeveloped forces, ' ' Go and 
deceive my children and see whether or not they 
will go to you or come to me — and if they go to you, 
I will crush them. ,} Oh, no, this is not God — it is 
only the conception of God in the unenlightened 
minds of men. 

Man, know thyself, and in knowing thyself thou 
wilt find thy God. Find the God which loves every 
one of his children, which lets the little worm live, 
the little birds to sing to you, the God which sends 
you the beautiful expression of nature in the spring 
time, the beautiful snow to cover the earth in the 
proper season— the great God of love which has 
consideration for all mankind. 

Now, those who have embraced the beautiful 
thought of spirit return and spirit communion— do 
you know that they have the eyes of the world turned 



FOREWORD 31 

upon them today? So it is for you to live. the life that 
will compel them to look up to you; that will make 
them see the great good that communication with the 
world of spirit has brought into your lives and 
brought out thru your lives into others, "lis not 
what you say so much as it is what you do, and more 
than anything it is what you think, the thoughts you 
entertain, for as a man thinketh, so is he. 'Tis true 
that negative thoughts float thru your brain, 
unwelcome guests, they will pass thru, but the 
thoughts which are entertained in your soul's home 
as your guests, see that they are such as you would 
like to have your friends know and see, because 
every thought becomes eventually more than a 
thought — so guard your thoughts. 

Some will hold that it is wrong to commune with 
those who have passed on, but I defy any man to 
say this when spirit communion is sought for the 
spiritual growth of his soul thru love— not thru 
selfishness, not thru inquisitiveness or eagerness to 
reach out for material things. When it is sought 
thru love for him who has left your physical vision, 
can any one say it is wrong? Can you say your 
loved ones would return upon such a thought wave 
as that? Is not love a God quality? Can any man 
who seeks spirit communion thru pure spiritual self- 
sacrificing love feel that it retards his progression 
when he seeks in that vibration? 

It will not retard the progression of any soul who 
seeks in spiritual aspiration. 



PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

We desire to lift spirit return and spirit com- 
munion to that high standard to which it belongs; 
to bring the reader into a realization of spirit re- 
turn whilst still in the flesh body; to show man the 
dangers of investigating spirit return before he fully 
understands the laws which govern this; to show 
him how to reach into the higher realms and to pro- 
tect himself from the spirits who are undeveloped — 
those who live very close to the earthy thoughts ; to 
instruct the people of the earth how to find their 
loved ones who have gone before; how to create a 
channel of purity and truth thru which those in 
spirit can come to man in the physical expression; 
to prove to man conclusively that spirit communion 
is possible and to show him the difference between 
constructive mediumship and destructive medium- 
ship. 

We will not attempt to explain all the different 
methods and phases of mediumship — there are vari- 
ous avenues for communication, all of which can be 
used beneficially if the investigators first learn the 
laws which govern these and know how to protect 
themselves from the lower minds who have not yet 
awakened spiritually. Spirit communion is very 
much abused by man reaching out into the unseen 
world without first preparing himself for the jour- 
ney. 

God never intended that this beautiful law should 



34 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

be used for man's material and selfish desires. The 
reason that this sacred law of the GREAT CAUSE 
OF ALL THINGS GOOD has been kept hidden so 
long is because man has abused it, ignorantly per- 
haps, but it has not been used for man's spiritual un- 
foldment, but for his material and earthly gains. 

First, it was needful to prove to the world that 
another life there was, and then it was needful to 
comfort the bereaved and to give the knowledge of 
what shall confront the traveler of the earth to that 
mysterious country. So we have opened the doors 
that there might be poured over you a greater un- 
derstanding; that understanding which gives you 
peace; but the world has mistaken the spirit door, 
and they have knocked upon these doors for selfish 
purposes, and thought that all there was to learn 
from that other side was to see, to test, to try, to 
find out that the consciousness of man beyond the 
vale of death could still define (questions pertaining 
to earth and earthly problems — but that is not our 
message to you. 

We desire to give you a knowledge of eternal pro- 
gression. There are many master minds in spirit 
who are preparing to speak to the children of the 
earth within the next year; to bring a greater light, 
and great shall be the demonstration of the spirit, 
and the time shall come when mortal eye shall see— 
for this we are planning. 

Now that the great awakening has come, because 
man's mind is developing to that state where he can 
receive spiritual things, he has dared to plunge into 
the darkness into the other world and talk and walk 
with spirits of whom he has known nothing. Some 



PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 35 

of the spirits have not awakened as yet— souls 
steeped in sin in their earth life, and they are still 
in it; the desires of the flesh have not gone; de- 
sires to wrong have not left them— and man invites 
souls of this caliber into his presence. When he 
does this, he sins not only against himself, but 
against man. Do not do this until you have the 
power to aid discarnate souls who return and ask 
for aid. There are many souls out of the flesh, as 
well as in the flesh, who will step into the homes of 
those who are constantly inviting spirits to them. 

Because of man's ignorance of the laws of spirit 
communion, he does not know how to investigate; 
so he investigates in a material sense and finds 
fraud, finds wrong. He opens the door for mani- 
festation, holding the pencil and getting writing and 
he becomes so fascinated that he is at it constantly, 
calling in any tramp soul who happens to be go- 
ing by. 

If you wish to draw from the lower realms; if 
you wish to invite destructive spirits into your 
midst, you can do it by simply speaking and calling 
them and inviting them thru concentrated thought 
on physical and material matter, holding no spirit- 
ual thought ; if you sit thus, you will invite just that 
kind. Thoughts are things; and if you are putting 
things around you all the time which are impure and 
unholy then when you talk or attempt to talk to the 
spirit world about you, the things about you will 
call their like to you. You may scoff at this expres- 
sion, you may laugh, but it is true, nevertheless. 
They have laughed at many things which are true— 
this is one of them. If you build about you and have 



36 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

all about you pure, holy thoughts, aud you sit for 
communion with spirits, why they invite their like. 

True, spiritual love never dies, but grows and 
grows as your loved ones see you and know you as 
you are. They know why you are weak ; they know 
why you sin ; they love you so. And whether your 
thoughts be coarse or fine, your loved ones will 
come to you— but would you invite them thru the 
coarser realm of thought, impure conditions, if you 
knew it? Then know it — when you do invite them 
by that suggestion of falsehood, of anything but 
spiritual and good, you are causing them to reduce 
to a very low degree, not making them evil, but 
making it possible for them to be stained during the 
time of their manifestation to you by the impurities 
around them. If they reflect to you in the midst of 
their sweet message of love a falsehood, close the 
realm; look to your lives; what is that they picked 
up as they penetrated your thought realm? 

So in your search for your loved ones, search in 
the name of God, in the holy spirit of righteousness 
and truth. Too many souls have found the lower 
realms because they knew not what they did; knew 
not how to search. So cultivate in your investiga- 
tion a prayerful thought. To receive good you must 
send out good ; and to receive evil, send forth evil. 

So, beware! If the good return, so can the evil. 

Now, another thing in which spiritualists and men 
who call themselves investigators are blind and 
ignorant of the laws is when they will sit for de- 
velopment, as they call it, and when some spirit 
comes and shakes up the body and causes them to 
make faces, they are bringing themselves down to a 



PURPOSE OP THE BOOK 37 

lower vibration than that in which they are. In al- 
lowing intelligences who are inferior to themselves 
to control their organs, they are dealing with de- 
structive forces; but those who seek spirit com- 
munion thru spiritual thought in spiritual aspira- 
tion, create a channel of communion thru spiritual 
thought and come in touch with the higher realms 
which are composed of constructive forces. 

It is a fact that many people desire to develop 
mediumship immediately upon being convinced that 
spirit return is possible— but mankind must be more 
enlightened upon this subject; mankind must not 
delve into such things so ignorantly, so absolutely 
innocent ; for there is a price and you may be called 
upon to pay that price; a price which may mean 
sorrow to you. Many times you will have to sacri- 
fice all that which is nearest and dearest to you in 
the mortal world. Are you willing to make that 
sacrifice? If not, why do you send forth that desire 
to be a medium? 

Do you know that a rapid development of med- 
iumship is but a surface mediumship or psychology 
mediumship, and not a spiritual mediumship? Be- 
cause the outer vibrations of your consciousness can 
penetrate the outer vibrations of another man's 
consciousness and bear this knowledge to you that 
you are able to express it to another, and he under- 
stands then that you know something of him and 
can tell something of his thoughts, about the condi- 
tions in his home, his desires, etc., this is no proof of 
spirit return. Perhaps you can tell him the names of 
his friends, but this is not the spiritual mediumship 
that the higher teachers in spirit wish to develop in 



38 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

mankind today; this is the objective or outer 
mediumship, and it is not constructive. 

Now, what the teachers from the higher realms 
wish to bring forth from within you and out of 
you is to perfect and bring forth that spiritual part 
of you which is in direct line with the GREAT 
CAUSE— the great white light— knowledge, perfec- 
tion, divinity, GOD. This is within you, but it takes 
time to bring it forth according to the necessity of 
your material thought, which may in the course 
of your mortal life confront you; but eventually it 
shall be brought forth, and then from this great 
fountain of knowledge you can draw freely, and tell 
it to mankind that they may be guided in the true 
sense. 

Oh, what a pity to waste your force in telling a 
man the number in his family — what benefit is it 
to tell him the position he holds in the material 
world. That which we are trying to bring forth 
within you is subjective mediumship; that which 
will awaken man spiritually; that which will illumi- 
nate the God spark within his soul. Do not desire 
the outer, or objective, which is a destructive force, 
but strive for the inner, the spiritual mediumship, 
the subjective which is constructive. The outer will 
in time be detrimental so that it will tend to drag 
you down or it will tend to give that which is untrue ; 
so develop the spiritual part of yourselves and then 
brothers and sisters, you will see the great white 
lights surrounding you; you will find the fountain 
of truth and the kingdom of heaven which lies within 
you. 



PUEPOSE OF THE BOOK 39 

As the great realization permeates all parts of 
the globe today that the dead have returned to say 
they are not dead, that they still live and can touch 
man in the flesh ; that the dead have spoken words ; 
that they have come from the land beyond, now the 
efforts of man to reach his loved ones are clothed in 
material thought. He steps as it were out of his 
everyday life and stands upon the brink which is 
so close to the great and deep abyss; (you do not 
see it, but I see it) and then he calls into the world 
unseen by him, and the mesage comes back, and he 
calls again and the message comes back, and in his 
eagerness to come closer he falls into the pitfall; 
and then when he has risen out of it, he turns from 
spirit communion. The fault is in him — it is he who 
is at fault. 

Now, promiscuous sitting and opening of the door 
to communication blindly and ignorantly is bound 
to bring harmful results. We will speak of one 
method of communication, automatic writing, for 
instance. A man going into a seance room gets in 
touch with some individual whom he knew in this 
life and perhaps he will say, "What can I do to 
hear from you at home?" And the advice" comes 
back, "Hold a pencil." So this individual having 
no thought of how to protect himself from mis- 
chievous spirits desiring to manifest, starts with a 
pencil in his hand, invites manifestation, not clothing 
himself, so to speak, and his environment with 
spiritual thoughts and in prayerful aspiration, but 
he merely sits eagerly watching that pencil and 
calling for manifestation— and after a time he re- 
ceives a written message ; a beautiful writing signed 



40 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

by one whom he knew. Now, after he had accom- 
plished this, and the message having proven the 
identity of the sender, if he would close the door 
for a time, say several days, then again open the 
door in prayerful, soulful thought to receive a mes- 
sage, all would be well. But instead of this method 
of procedure the man in his eagerness to get more 
and more, and in his blindness sits again and again 
until the thought is almost an obsession, inviting 
any soul that will write for him; and he will ex- 
ultantly exclaim to his friends, "Oh, I am getting 
writing"— then finally he gets messages that are 
not good or true, and he begins to see that he is 
being misled. 

When he finds that he has received messages from 
undesirable spirits, he attempts to shake them off 
immediately, but he cannot do it. It requires a great 
effort, a power of mind cultivated to a high degree 
to accomplish this. 

So let me drop this little word along the way. Do 
take a pencil, but sanctify your surroundings for 
spiritual communion; open the- doorway into a 
higher realm of thought. You would not desire to 
have spirits come to you from a lower realm of 
thought, from a lower plane of life than that in 
which you are walking— not one of you. So con- 
sider the dangers you face in opening the door of 
communion too often to invite unwarily any who 
may be passing by. Sit for development with the 
pencil in the sanctified spiritual realm of thought 
built about you in spiritual aspiration and ask within 
the consciousness of you— not the word-spoken pray- 
ers, not the lip prayers, but the deep soul prayer 



PUBPOSE OF THE BOOK 41 

which asks for naught but that which is good and 
uplifting. 

Open the doorway of communication in light that 
you may receive communication that will aid many 
to be better men and women ; and then sit for only 
a few minutes— do not overdo it. If you sit for 
five or ten minutes for communication and do not 
receive any, do not sit and wait until you do, but 
close the door again in prayer and say, " Friends, 
if you are here, God bless you, I will meet you again 
at such a time" — and then meet them again in that 
same prayerful thought. 



The greatest power manifesting upon the earth 
plane today is the power of the human mind. There 
is a power within each and every one of you to 
create a channel of communication. You can get in 
touch with a realm of spirit whichj 'will be de- 
structive to you, or you can come in touch with the 
higher realms which will be constructive to the soul 
of you. 

Then there is a great danger— I wish to impress 
this deeply upon you— in the instrument which man 
frequently takes first as a means of amusement, the 
ouija board. This is one means of communication, 
it is true, but man does just the same with this 
instrument as he does with the pencil — opens the 
door of communication continuously inviting promis- 
cuous souls who may be passing along. 

The fact that the spirit can and does communicate 
and that the minds of men can come in touch with 
individuals out of the flesh is all the more reason 
that the man who has gained this knowledge, or who 



42 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

is searching for it, should know the necessity of 
first preparing himself or educating himself for 
spirit communion. 

You would not go from here to your northern 
countries where it is bitter cold, leaving here in the 
hottest days without preparing for the journey; but 
blindly you delve into the secrets of another life 
and expect them to always come to you with good 
and true messages. 

If there is nothing about one that will attract 
good, if one is searching for falsehood or untruth, 
if the strongest thought about that one is untruth, 
that is just what he will attract to him. Untruth is 
negative — a negative thought, and it will draw the 
things which are destructive; it is a destructive 
thought; there is nothing positive about it and it 
is a destructive quality of thought that it builds. 

If you are searching for truth, you may not find 
it at first, you may see manifested all about you 
untruth for a time, but it will not touch you, it will 
not hurt you because you have builded about you a 
quality of truth, the positive quality of thought 
which can be created within the consciousness of 
man and protect him from the destructive forces 
which may come to him in his investigation. 

Men do not understand the laws of vibration as 
yet, but the eyes of the world are opening and men 
are coming into the realization of things which they 
never dreamed of. The reality of life is sinking into 
the consciousness of minds who are in the physical 
body today. Men search for messages from those 
who have entered spirit life in truth, in spiritual 
thought, and not as in the olden time when they 



PUEPOSE OF THE BOOK 43 

sought it to have their fortunes told. Think of 
this. Think of dragging disembodied souls down 
through all the density of all the earth conditions 
just to have your fortune told; to tell you of your 
old physical expression; if you should sell your 
house ; to help you injure your neighbor's prospects ; 
to tell you how to get rid of some one you do not 
like — think of it — why, it is a crime. 

The man who dares to use this beautiful law of 
spirit communion for such purposes is a mental 
criminal— for it is a crime. Spirit return is one of 
God's doorways through which man can find his 
soul, his spiritual powers, then would you drag this 
down to the coarse vibration of the earthly things? 

If you think of visiting the seance room for the 
purpose of bettering your material condition at 
the expense of your neighbor, stay at home— stay 
at home— until you can know that spirit is of God 
and that man is of God's creation, and the spirit 
who has left the physical body has gone into a 
purer and higher vibration, a higher conception of 
things. Do not invite your loved ones into that dense 
vibration, but build a spiritual home that you can 
reach them— I do not mean a home builded of lum- 
ber, but a spiritual thought house into which you 
can go into meditation and touch the spirit world. 
You need not go to a public seance room, but go 
into the silence of your own room ; build your little 
thought house of spiritual aspiration, of service, of 
love. 

But, do not think you can go into silent prayer 
perhaps today and build a beautiful thought house 
then tomorrow go forth and injure your neighbor 



44 PURPOSE OP THE BOOK 

or start or create some condition about him which 
will make him unhappy, then when you go back to- 
morrow night to your little thought house, do not 
expect to find it there, for it has crumbled back to 
earth. But if you had truthfully spoken to your 
neighbor and had been sincere in all your dealings, 
you would still have your beautiful thought house; 
you would find that it was not all thought, but also 
deeds and service. 

Then go into that holy sanctuary of spirit and 
your loved ones will come and speak to you and 
you will feel their presence. Do not abuse this 
holy, this sacred law of spirit communion, and then 
you will know more of the condition into which man 
steps at death. Build your spiritual thought house 
now and when you leave that body and step into 
that house directly you will know and directly you 
will see all things are possible to the human mind 
through spirit, and man is indeed a reflection of the 
great Godhead. So make your physical temple 
worthy of being a part of the Great Cause of all 
things ; make yourself worthy of being a reflection 
of the Godhead— make your physical temple worthy 
of its tenant. 

Mediumship today is very much abused, very 
much misrepresented; is very much in demand by 
those who have no desire for anything but knowledge 
of how to better their material conditions. But 
when man realizes what mediumship, true, spiritual 
mediumship really is, he will enter the chamber of 
communication with a feeling of holiness. He will 
not go there with the hope to find a fakir, because 



PURPOSE OP THE BOOK 45 

he will know that if it is a fakir he is searching for, 
he will find it. 

If you desire to develop your powers of medium- 
ship, do be careful about all those who are assembled 
in the circle with you, for as you are joined together 
in thought of development there may be some among 
you who would deceive, and if this be true, you 
surely will draw deceptive forces about you— like 
attracts like — the world beyond the grave is full of 
spirits that you would not like to invite into your 
home, your soul's home. 

First, educate yourselves along the line of spirit- 
ual thought, learn to know yourselves, learn to build 
the glorious spiritual protective powers, and then to 
you spiritual mediumship is bound to come ; because 
through the holy light of spirit all things are pos- 
sible ; and by reaching out through the spirit, build- 
ing by service, by kind words and kind thoughts, 
tearing down selfish thoughts within you, by living 
a true life in so far as you are able, you will find 
you are able to lift and enable man to unfold spirit- 
ually and to express God's truth and light. 

The door is open into the realms of spirit. One 
does not have to leave the flesh body to live in a 
higher sphere. There are those walking in the flesh 
today who are in higher realms of thought than some 
who are out of the body. Disembodied spirits who 
are walking in the lower realms of thought cannot 
touch you, cannot stand before you unless there is 
within yourself something of the same thought, 
some desire in direct and harmonious tune with 
them. 

As man learns more of the wondrous law which 



46 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

governs all things, he will know that there is walking 
about him more that is invisible than of the things 
which he can see, that those which he cannot discern 
in his mortal thought are stronger about him than 
those things which he can touch with his physical 
sense. 

Purify your thought world and your act world 
will become purified by its illumination, then you 
can see the glorious light of the over-ruling mind, 
the God power which guides you into all truth. If 
you deceive your fellow-men, expect to be deceived 
by the spirits who return to you ; if you are selfish, 
expect the selfish spirit to come to you because when 
you attempt to commune, you open the doors to the 
realm of thought in which you are. 

This is the thing which has hindered us, this is the 
thing which has helped to keep the glorious light 
of spirit return dimly lighted in your world. This 
is why so many greater minds forbid your investiga- 
tion of spirit return, because they realize that man 
has walked in such paths of life that he may be 
misled by undeveloped spirits. 

Therefore, our object in coming to you is that 
we wish to have the door opened wide to the spiritual 
world; that we come to tell you there is no death, 
but first prepare yourself, make yourself worthy of 
the message. Do not go into that sacred chamber 
of communion and when your loved ones come, say, 
"What about that investment?" Or, "Is that you, 
mother? Well, say, what shall I do about the house? 
Should I sell it?" Oh, do not drag that mother who 
comes to you in the pure and holy light of spirit, 
whose soul has been severed from all the physical 



PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 47 

memories for years, down to the lower and coarser 
expression. It hurts, it grieves the soul who reduces 
down through all the density of the earth plane to 
tell her child that she lives and that she still loves 
and still prays that her child will awaken to a 
realization of spiritual things. 



Oh, the glorious truth that lies within spirit com- 
munion. Remember, friends, that gathering in little 
groups to develop mediumship is not true spiritual 
unfoldment when you gather in to see what you can 
find, and let some tramp spirit who happens along 
(whose vibration just fits yours) come in and 
control you. Oh, it grieves us to see all these repre- 
senting themselves as spiritual helpers and leaders. 
Brothers and sisters, if you intend to present true 
spiritual light to man, rise out of this. Make a 
spiritual leader of yourselves by unfolding the spirit 
within you, by reaching out not for the personal 
benefits, but that you may come closer to spirit, and 
feed the spirit with spiritual food. 

You must prove to the world the truth of spirit 
return. Do not let material mongers come to you 
asking that you tell them of their past, of their 
family, etc. That does not prove that the spirit is 
there. Build a spiritual foundation of truth which 
will prove the greatest thing the world has ever 
known. The laws are so simple if you just hold 
the truth about you. 

There is another danger which man must learn to 
avoid. A spirit returning will step into the vibration 
of an individual so closely that it can formulate 
words to speak its thought. It is impressed upon 



48 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

the brain of that individual just as sound is im- 
pressed upon the brain through the ears and then 
he knows he has heard the words, and as he utters 
these words the minds of men who have never been 
touched by the spirit feel a pity for him. They say 
that his brain is deficient, and so they have homes 
where are many whom they call insane. The truth 
is that many of them have their brain cells Weakened 
by the continual practice of different intelligences 
upon their brain cells, because so many are endeav- 
oring to reach mankind with little spoken messages. 
There are numberless spirits who are searching 
along every possible avenue to reach mankind. 

A musical instrument which has been played on 
by one and another, abusing it until it is all out of 
tune— this is the way many sensitive brains are used 
by outer influences, which because of their lack of 
spiritual unfoldment have come in touch with the 
undeveloped minds who endeavor to use this in- 
strument through curiosity. This law, so little 
understood by man, so very much abused and mis- 
used, as are a great many other wondrous things, 
you will find some day to be of great benefit to you. 
Spirit return is a beautiful realization ; it is one of 
God's open doorways of spiritual unfoldment, and 
your loved ones come through that doorway to you. 
Would you lay in their way that which would spoil 
their happiness ? Would you ask that they aid you 
in wrong doing and in tearing down good that you 
might accumulate a little more of material things? 

They return to aid you, to help you, to guide you, 
to awaken the spiritual part of yourselves, and not 
to make conditions which will enable you to get the 



PURPOSE OP THE BOOK 49 

best of a material bargain. You are transgressing 
when you ask them to help you sell your house, or 
to eject from homes those whom you think are 
causing unhappiness — you are doing wrong when 
you do this. That is why spirit return has been 
held down. It is unwise to reach into the world un- 
seen for communication of a trivial nature. And 
until you have thoroughly gathered into your con- 
sciousness a clear understanding of the laws of com- 
munication, and how to create that protective force 
and build the proper channel it is better to leave 
spirit communication alone. 

Do not build a condition which will grieve your 
loved ones who are close to you, loving, serving, 
guiding you, who are ministering angels bringing 
tidings of light — and through that illuminated light 
of God they come to you burning with love, en- 
thused with happiness, for they love you and they 
shall not leave you. 

Humanity needs various forms or expressions of 
help. There are some who can help in one form and 
others in other forms. A great many people in 
coming years will be seemingly suffering from in- 
sanity; but it will be merely through the weakness 
of their own mentality or thought that they will slip 
away because of the nearness of many undeveloped 
souls. But this insanity will be overcome by man's 
knowledge created by spirit communion, because by 
getting in touch with minds out of the flesh man can 
know what is the trouble and remedy it. 

In ignorance mankind opens the door to spirit 
communion in material and physical thought inviting 
into their midst undeveloped souls before they are 



50 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

illuminated spiritually. Oh, friends, if you could 
see the great harm in sitting and inviting intel- 
ligences lower than yourselves, inviting minds not 
nearly so illuminated as you are into your body to 
control the mind of you, you would not dare do it. 
Never permit a soul who in unfoldment and develop- 
ment is beneath yourself, to control your mind. 

Know this: That it is true, as those who say it 
is, many souls come back masquerading — true, true — 
and many men in the flesh will masquerade. So if 
men in the flesh will maslquerade, so also will un- 
developed souls out of the flesh. 

But there is a way to protect yourselves that you 
may delve into the great life beyond the grave and 
derive great benefit therefrom. Let TEUTH be 
your watchword in everything you do, and when you 
investigate the great law of spirit communion, clothe 
yourselves in truth, make the soul of you spiritual 
so that you will receive the spiritual things, that the 
souls who are akin to you may come close to you. 
That law of attraction is very evident, and you will 
bring them close to you when you sit alone for com- 
munion; so open the way in solemn prayerful 
thought, and when you go to a public meeting to 
communicate with your friends who are gone, first 
study the life of the instrument through which your 
loved ones must come ; know something of what that 
soul is because every soul that manifests to you 
through this instrument must come in very close 
touch with the souls surrounding the soul of the 
instrument who brings your messages to you. 

Study the lives of the instruments who bring your 
communications to you. See the life they live every- 



PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 51 

day ; know whether or not you would like your loved 
ones to come into their vibration, whether or not 
you would like to invite them close to this individual. 
Study the lives of those with whom you sit for mani- 
festation frequently. Be very careful ; beware, that 
they do not open the door to spirit intelligences 
whom you would not desire to invite into your soul 's 
home. 

You would not invite into your home any tramp 
that happened along— not one of you — unless you 
might help him, and you were strong enough to help 
him before he destroyed you— you would not do it. 
And so until you are strong enough mentally and 
spiritually to help those souls gone before, and know 
how to build the protective forces about you, be 
careful ; for insanity and obsession are many times 
brought to the poor individual who starts upon the 
highway of investigation blindly and ignorantly. 



When man first comes into the knowledge of spirit 
return, and it is ever so with man, he plunges madly 
into it, enthused over this knowledge, it comes upon 
him overwhelming him, and filling him with more 
and more desire to know what it really is; what 
wondrous power is back of it all, and he never stops 
to find first upon what realm he stands. He never 
stops to say, ' ' Now, am I spiritually fit to delve into 
the hidden things of God?" He very rarely finds 
himself speaking in the silence to his own conscience 
and finding whether or not he truly loves all man- 
kind, asking himself whether he has cultivated to 
a very high degree his hate power, or has he culti-. 
vated within him his love force. Has he learned to 



52 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

see through the eyes of spirit? Has he cultivated 
universal love ? If he will ask himself these questions 
and finds that he is deficient in the spiritual and 
constructive part of himself, it is well that he goes 
warily about his investigation. 

The illuminated spirit returns to the earth plane 
and manifests — not to lead you through material 
experiences— no, that is your part, but to teach you 
how to live and to illuminate the God spark within, 
to teach you how to love, how to serve your brother. 

It is the purpose of the spirit to warn you against 
opening the door of spirit communion with all those 
thoughts of earth, with all those desires for riches, 
with all those thoughts of selfishness, seeking from 
the other world those things which through your 
selfishness you desire. True, the door is ever open 
to all beings and man is privileged to gather for 
himself. If he first purifies himself that he may 
draw from the higher realms of spirit he will find 
food for his soul, and he is always hungry for more 
and more light of spirit, and the brighter and more 
cheery becomes his life because he sees spiritually— 
the spirit can discern all things. 

Yet there are those who would try to use the spirit 
to better their material conditions, who would go 
into a seance room and ask the holy spirit for things 
that are sinful, for things of the earth ; they would 
even ask the spirit to put a bar between man and 
wife, to break the ties of matrimony. Man would 
use this glorious power of spirit communion to 
create discord— oh, what a mistake. 

Know that just so high as you rise spiritually, 
from just such a high realm of thought can you 



PUBPOSE OP THE BOOK 53 

draw the things that your soul needs. The glorious, 
or the belittling messages received through the open 
doorway are the results of your own vibration. Even 
those pure and beautiful spirits who love you must 
descend through the density of the vibrations around 
the earth plane, and even their love messages are 
colored by your sins. If you deceive your fellow- 
man, and you receive your loved ones through those 
vibrations a message from one who has risen, who 
knows but that pure word which would tell you the 
truth, would be so colored by your impure thought 
that you would not recognize his voice. 

So if you wish to receive the very best, make your- 
selves worthy; build that condition around you that 
will not discolor the brightest message ever sent out. 

Now that you know this, why not begin today to 
live a pure life, to rise and reach out to the glorious 
and grand realities which are yours. Let us help 
you ; let us show you the way. We have learned by 
bitter experiences those things which we are trying 
to teach you. Because when we dwelt upon the earth 
plane man in his ignorance and prejudice closed the 
door to that higher realm, but you are privileged 
today to open the doors wide to that unseen world 
and listen to the soft voice of the spirit. Therefore, 
we hope that the door to the lower realms of spirit 
expression, inhabited by those spirits disembodied 
who have not yet risen, will be closed. This door can 
be closed. Are you going to close it, or are you going 
to receive those tearing-down thoughts from the 
lower realms because they help you materially? Are 
you going to waste the glorious gift of mediumship 



54 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 

by entertaining visitors from the lower realm of 
thought? 

We come to tell you that the mere fact that some 
can put their minds in tune with others is not a 
proof of spirit return. True, the spirit power is 
back of it, but who knows whether or not that spirit 
is out of the body? You are just as much a spirit 
now as you will be when you have cast off the flesh. 
Do you think that because one can tell you where 
you were born, can tell you what you were thinking 
of when you left home, can tell you where you have 
lived, that this is a proof of spirit return? It is not. 
It is a proof of spirit powers, but the spirit while 
in the flesh body can do these things. But why culti- 
vate these powers? They are not uplifting— then 
why do it? 

The pure spirit returns to speak into your soul 
those things which will make you better, those things 
which illuminate your soul in its growth and fill you 
with a desire to rise and be better. And if you sense 
the messages today you can tell that your soul is 
rising by the messages you receive. You can know 
when you hear from that spirit how much higher 
they are. These things prove spirit return, these 
things prove the progression of the soul. 

There are none, not any, who have not some spirit 
power within which will bring positive proof of 
spirit return to them, if they have the proper 
spiritual meditation and aspiration in harmony. 
Know that the basis of all things spiritual is har- 
mony. If you are not in a discordant condition you 
will surely get positive proof of the spirit's return 
to earth. It is hard to tell you just when you will 



PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 55 

receive that message, I mean through your own 
instrumentality, but know that if you want to witness 
positive proof of spirit return, if you doubt all 
humanity, go into the silence in spiritual meditation 
daily, and daily, and just as true as I am speaking 
to you here, you will receive positive proof— this is 
true. 



THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

CHAPTER I. 

THE ASTRAL BODY. 

(The material for this chapter was gathered from different 
lectures which were given thru the mediumship of Mrs. Brace 
during complete entrancement. The lectures are given every 
Sunday evening in a large auditorium and the subjects are 
announced by the spirit teachers a week in advance.) 

First, we will tell you something of that new body 
through which you will manifest after death, as you 
do through your physical body today. 

The astral or star body is that which would appear 
as a reflection or electric flash, were you able to 
catch a glimpse of it through the physical sense of 
sight. This body which envelops your physical body 
is growing and developing each day of your physical 
expression. 

It has every appearance of the physical body ex- 
cept its composition which embodies ether, elec- 
tricity, star magno, or star magnetic force, holding 
records of every emotion, thought and act of the 
individual. 

Ether is a chemical or quality of the atmosphere 
which permeates everything, but which, as yet, 
scientists have not been able to analyze. The astral 
body has -more of this in its composition than has 
the physical body. 
. Upon this astral body is recorded every emotion, 



58 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

every thought, every act which passes through the 
particular material expression of the individual who 
manifests through this body of which we speak. The 
astral body is that body which you are building, 
making, every day of your expression upon the 
physical plane. It is more of the electric force; 
it is formed or rather composed of more of the con- 
ditions which come from the atmosphere, but in, 
around and about you, penetrating within you are 
these rays with which you in time become directly 
in touch by thought. You may not understand this — 
it is spoken of as being electricity in wonderful 
magnetic healers. This electric force which is about 
them is gathered through their astral bodies; and 
they are able to draw and express more of the force 
from the atmosphere. This force is the food, so 
to speak, upon which the astral body, I will not say 
exists, but gathers its force. 

Your physical body would grow terribly weak 
were it not possible to feed and satisfy it— material 
food is placed in the mouth ; that is the way to feed 
the physical body, but the astral body gathers its 
food, its force, from the atmosphere as one would 
draw within him electric force. This is why electric 
treatments aid greatly the physical body; but it 
enters into that body through the astral body, and 
the stronger the astral body the more beneficial the 
electric treatments; because if the astral body is 
undeveloped, which is so in many instances until 
one grows to be of some age, it does not gather 
much electric force ; but if it is in a strong condition 
there you will see one who is magnetic, and has 
great force to heal. I am not speaking of mental 



THE ASTBAL BODY 59 

healing, but magnetic healing, two distinctly differ- 
ent kinds of healing. 

Man is now beginning to find the power of elec- 
tricity—he can do much with it now, but he is only 
touching upon the very edge of it. Electricity is 
the food of the astral body. Man attempts to place 
it in the physical body, but it only comes away, 
leaves it again and goes into the astral body which 
can gather it through natural means. And as the 
child is fed before its birth into the flesh by natural 
means so is the astral body whilst in the physical, 
but after death it is for you to learn how to manipu- 
late, and how to care for the astral body. 

In each expression you have a body — in the 
physical expression, a physical body, and in the 
astral expression, an astral body, and each is con- 
trolled by you; an instrument in your hands, so to 
speak. 

The terrestrial or star magno, which is part of 
the astral body, causes it to respond to the law of 
gravity— and this enables the soul to be in close 
touch with the earth life. It is the force which 
attracts bodies to the particular planet upon which 
they manifest; and there is a strong sympathetic 
vibration between the astral and the earth. 

But after they have reached a certain stage of 
perfection, so to speak, the soul in its growth and 
the spirit in its unfoldment rises and grows to 
understand, not more wise, as you would say in the 
physical, but grows in spirituality, in spiritual 
growth, in spiritual unfoldment nearer and nearer 
to that perfect standard; then in time it outgrows 
and casts aside that astral body; after which it is 



60 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

possible for that spirit to pass to other planets and 
rise far into the unknown world planets, unknown 
as yet. 

It is possible for those who have left their astral 
bodies to borrow another's astral body and return 
to their old familiar planet to manifest, but it is 
through the astral body borrowed for the time, just 
as the spirit returning from the astral plane borrows 
your body— the body of an instrument, the medium, 
as you know it, to speak through it. Thus they 
manifest as missionaries from the purer and more 
perfect realms of spirit through the astral body 
on the astral plane, and eome for the purpose of 
enlightening and lifting souls to a higher conception 
of spirit. 

The astral body in appearance is very much like 
the physical body of the individual because it reflects 
upon this star magno, (electric force, I will call it, 
but it is a finer force than electricity; yet it can 
be compared in a sense to it that you might the 
more clearly comprehend it). It appears so much 
like the physical body that one who can just catch 
a glimpse of it thinks it is surely a materialized 
form that they see. 

The astral body depends greatly upon the environ- 
ments, the life and expression of the individual. 
Much of it is but a solid— it is not solid as you would 
call it, because your thought of this is material — 
but it is solid for the astral— coarser— heavier — less 
like the spirit. He who has not progressed very 
far from the physical thoughts and needs, to him 
it is solid. 

So as you live and as you express yourself in 



THE ASTEAL BODY 61 

your service and such, you are building and building 
that body about you which envelops you, so to speak. 
It is just as a reflection would seem to your eye, so 
fine you cannot see it, yet it is there; and it is the 
vehicle through which you will manifest as you are 
manifesting today. After you have discarded your 
physical body that astral body will be just as much 
you as the physical body through which you manifest 
today is you. 

True, you use but one body at a time because 
through the physical life the astral is being com- 
pleted, perfected, made ready for its tenant. Dur- 
ing the physical expression of the individual the 
astral body is in an embryonic state of development, 
so those who live to a "ripe old age" have a more 
fully developed and perfectly formed astral body to 
start in their new expression. This is the case also 
with those who pass out after a long illness, for as 
the physical body declines the other body through 
a natural process grows stronger in preparation for 
its tenant. 

When death comes suddenly as by accident, etc., 
the astral body is weak, not fully developed^ and the 
soul finds some difficulty in manifesting for a time, 
much as does the child prematurely born into the 
flesh. However, souls who pass into the other life 
under those conditions are cared for by other souls 
who serve in this way. There are great armies of 
souls who devote much time and thought to the care 
of weak and undeveloped astral bodies, much the 
same as there are many in the flesh who give their 
time, thoughts and lives to the study of the physical. 

And so kind and loving souls on the astral plane 



62 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

give succor to their unfortunate brothers and sisters 
who pass into that life without completing their 
physical expression. 

The astral body radiates color vibrations which 
are governed by the predominating characteristics 
and thoughts of the individual, (see chapter on 
Heaven) and generally the last thought a soul has 
in the physical is much colored with fear and doubt; 
this causes the new body to reflect a dull grey, but 
which becomes illuminated more and more as the 
soul unfolds the finer qualities. 

Every person has some particular thought or 
quality which is more pronounced in them than any 
other — a pet thought — and this gives the astral body 
a certain predominant color. These color rays are 
not always discernible through the physical sense, 
but sometimes one does catch a glimpse of light 
which he cannot explain any other way than that it 
was a light which did not come from any place, — just 
a light. However, through spiritual unfoldment and 
cultivation of the powers within one can see the 
astral body very plainly at times. 

Some astral bodies hold almost every color there 
is. As you sit in a seance or in the silence of your 
own room, many times you will see a light— blue, 
red, gold— they vary in color, and as you study the 
meaning of these colors you will learn to know when 
you see that color that it is just a little portion of 
an astral body, your friends are near you. In your 
meditation or when you are weary and filled with 
woe, you will know that your loved ones are near, 
and as you study the language of colors, you will 



THE ASTRAL BODY 63 

know after you have studied, as you would know the 
characteristics of your friends. 

The astral body is in a higher rate of vibration 
than the physical body so it can rarely be discerned 
through the physical sense of sight. It vibrates 
higher than light; in fact, higher than any vibra- 
tion which can be reached through the physical 
senses. Although sometimes one feels a presence— 
as for instance, one sitting in a circle will receive a 
shock much like an electric shock or thrill which 
will sometimes cause him to visibly tremble— this is 
caused by the close proximity of the astral body 
of a discarnate soul whose vibrations are not in the 
same rate as the one who is effected thus, and then 
also the one who is endeavoring to manifest does 
not understand how to reduce or increase the vibra- 
tion to harmonize with the one in the flesh— this 
causes a shock. But through a sympathetic response 
on the part of one or the other, harmony is produced 
and frequently a message is received in one way or 
another. 

The astral body is lighter than light; it is lighter 
than the light rays because it is of a higher vibra- 
tion ; it is lighter and higher, and yet more powerful 
than electricity, yet it is a form of this. There are 
two distinct principles in all of nature— the positive 
and negative — and the contact of these two prin- 
ciples in the atmosphere produces a dynamic power 
called electricity. And man is going to find these 
things in the near future. 

Today man knows positively that when he has 
finished with the physical expression of life that he 
will step into a new expression — every living man 



64 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

and woman must live in another expression— and 
death is that condition or experience through which 
every man is placed in an entirely different expres- 
sion of life. 

All mankind expressing itself upon this lower 
plane of expression holds within its own existence 
a trinity. First, the elements, the terrestrial body, 
the lower grosser qualities of the beast expression ; 
second, the higher or star body, the astral body; 
third, the spirit, the God spark, that quality within 
man which reflects his Creator, which reflects har- 
mony, love, truth and the finer (qualities which are 
a part of God. 

Man has learned something through experience of 
the lower expression of life, so now we will touch 
upon the second or intermediate part of that trinity, 
the astral or star body which is so closely allied to 
his flesh body during the physical expression that 
it has every appearance of his first body save that 
it is of an entirely different composition. 

Under certain conditions it is possible to see the 
astral body separating itself from the physical at 
death when vapory fragments will be seen to rise 
above the body. The solar plexus holds to the very 
last portions of the astral body until a very fine line 
or thread of light which binds the two bodies at the 
center of the physical body (the solar plexus) is 
suddenly snapped and "the silver cord is broken." 
The reason it is more possible to see the astral body 
at this time than under ordinary conditions is the 
resistance of the physical which causes the astral 
to reduce in vibration for a short time during the 
process of transition. The astral body tears itself 



THE ASTKAL BODY 65 

away and finally it is closed upon that center of 
nerves. That is the last grip which that physical 
body has upon its astral shell. 

Physical sensations and memories are retained by 
the astral body for some time after death— the 
length of time being governed by the individual. If 
a person 's predominating qualities are physical and 
habits were formed to satisfy the physical appetites, 
then the physical memories are more pronounced 
and the soul finds more difficulty in becoming ac- 
quainted with its new environments, etc. 

Unless a person is very highly developed spirit- 
ually, it is very likely that the soul will stay near 
the physical body for a few days after transition, 
therefore it is not advisable to destroy the clay or 
physical body until over three days have elapsed and 
then cremation is the proper way to dispose of the 
flesh body. Especially if the soul had any pro- 
nounced habits, such as drug or intoxicants, etc., 
because after the flesh body has returned to dust 
or ashes the physical sensations or desires no longer 
reflect upon the astral body, and the higher spiritual 
qualities begin to develop and manifest. 

In some instances, (when the life has been void 
of spiritual thoughts and all the thoughts and de- 
sires have been very earthy and physical) the 
physical memories are very pronounced, until the 
flesh body has lost its form completely and passed 
to earth. 

When man finds that he can stand beside that 
flesh body and see it and know that it is his, his 
first thought is fear. The first sensation that man 
has when coming into that new life is fear — and the 



66 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

very first sensation the child has when born into 
the flesh is fear. The very first thought in the flesh, 
and the very last, is fear. 

Some have builded snch a strong thought force 
about them intermingling with fear that the astral 
body reflects very little else for a time; until that 
coarser force or thought sheds away from the astral 
body then it holds the finer qualities. The little child 
finds great difficulty in learning how to use hands 
and feet ; they move awkwardly at first because that 
part of the mind has not become acquainted with 
its duties ; and so it is with the man as he first steps 
into his astral body. So if the astral body be heavy ; 
be weighty, be more seemingly material, it is because 
that man's life has been such, and he needs more 
experience to reveal the God spark within him, and 
so that astral body carries the individual into that 
new life. He learns after a time how to manipulate 
that new body, he becomes acquainted with it as he 
has his flesh body, its uses and its needs. 

The astral body also needs food as your flesh 
body does, but it gathers it from that force, elec- 
tricity; (I will use that term because you are ac- 
quainted with the interpretation) those in the astral 
body draw that for themselves, they learn to feed 
that body as they have learned to feed the physical 
body, but they do not satisfy their astral bodies 
through the mouth as in the physical; they must 
learn how to gather to themselves their needs and 
desires. 

They must learn how to keep and use that body 
and then they begin to develop understanding 
through various experiences. They are drawn into 



THE ASTRAL BODY 67 

different realms by the law of attraction. They have 
their own experiences; some are forced to come in 
direct contact with man in the flesh body — some to 
learn and some to guide and some to help physical 
bodies — by various ways comes the experience 
through which they must pass. And in those ex- 
periences they grow more and more enlightened, 
and finally they grow lighter and closer to spirit 
until in time they have another body. It is a glad 
day when they can cast aside all memories of earth 
and ascend into pure spirit. They still hold their 
individuality— that is the thing which never dies 
because it has been gathered through all the differ- 
ent schools of experiences. 

Man must have some experiences close to the earth 
plane after death by coming in contact with other 
souls manifesting in the flesh, seeing their lives 
through the spiritual vision (understanding) thus 
learning the effect of different experiences, and 
feeling the sorrow and joys of or with others, 
and learning in that way the real meaning of the 
trials of life which enables them to work out their 
lives in harmony with the inviolable law of com- 
pensation. They must know all the flesh experiences 
before they can pass entirely into spirit. 

Therefore, the astral body is that vehicle of the 
soul or the spirit which helps man to manifest close 
to his particular plane upon which he has spent his 
earth expression. When the astral body has gone, 
the spirit returns to the earth plane only in bor- 
rowed vehicles, borrowing the astral bodies from 
those who are as mediums or manifesters between 
the higher life in the spirit and the astral plane. 



68 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

There are mediums, as you term it, manifesting on 
the astral plane who are bringing to those spirits 
who are manifesting in the lower expression, and 
yet still upon the astral plane, bringing to them the 
higher, purer thought of spirit. 

Souls have risen while still in the flesh ; they have 
soared out of the earthly conditions into the uni- 
versal light and still hold their flesh bodies, but that 
flesh body grows weaker and finer, less coarse, the 
vibrations are higher, and soon it will fall away and 
that soul in its ascension will know more of that 
new plan of life and he may pass directly into a 
school which will prepare him to return and to teach 
and help others. 

You all know it is well to understand the care of 
the physical body and its requirements ; that under- 
standing it enables you to keep it in better condition, 
and so since it will be but a limited time until you 
will occupy your other body, the astral, it surely 
behooves you to know something of the new body, 
for surely it is yours, and it will be just as much 
yours as is your physical body today yours. So it 
is well that you know something of what it is to 
express yourself in the astral body. 

As the astral body has reflected upon it the knowl- 
edge of existence, reflected upon it and through it 
by the physical expression, if that thought or that 
knowledge of such a body existed within man, why, 
surely it would reflect itself upon the new body and 
he would readily become acquainted with the future 
state. Then it would be very much easier for one to 
adapt himself to his new mode of life than if he 
goes over with the thought that he will immediately 



THE ASTRAL BODY OW 

plunge into a heavenly home of peace and harmony, 
forgetting all the little sorrows he has caused, for- 
getting all the griefs he has brought into the hearts 
of his fellow-men. Do you think you cam do these 
things and escape retribution? 

There is one great law— harmonious attunement— 
not atonement, but attunement. You are all striving 
to rise into this, and you will, but you cannot hide 
one thought, one desire— it is revealed to the un- 
folded spirit. So it is well for you to know some- 
thing of this new body which will be yours in that 
not far-distant future, perhaps tomorrow, when you 
will be molded through the inevitable laws of nature 
—evolution— you will come in direct touch with the 
earth plane and then you must do your work. 

After the spirit has discarded or outgrown or 
consumed its astral body, finished its work, in that 
particular expression, it can pass at once into, about 
or above all the different planets for there is no 
magnetic force to draw it down or back to that plane 
upon which it expressed itself in the physical. 

The aura is the soul body which surrounds and 
encloses the mortal body. It is as a light which 
seemingly radiates from the mortal man. These 
lights are colored with his thoughts, which have 
their own particular colors, with his acts, and every 
act and every thought that man sends out into the 
universe shows upon this aura about him, and this 
attracts kindred spirits to him. 

The soul holds a record of everything; every ex- 
perience through which you pass in your physical 
expression is imprinted upon the soul of you; and 
even as the spirit leaves the body the soul of you 



70 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

leaves the flesh and enters into that astral body 
which is being prepared during your physical ex- 
pression. 

The spirit is that Godspark within each and every 
individual; it is that part of you which makes you 
to the image and likeness of God; it is the ray, the 
spark, we will say, of the Great Over Soul, the 
Spirit of spirits, the CAUSE of all things. There- 
fore the soul is that part of man which individualizes 
the spirit, and makes that portion of the Great 
Spirit you. 

Now the soul of man records individually, all his 
experiences, his thoughts, his beliefs, yes, and all 
conditions mentally and physically through which he 
passes— they all tend to the building of his soul. 
Therefore, the soul has as its duty the bringing out 
or rather the spiritual enlightenment or illumination 
of the consciousness which makes him realize what 
part he has to play in the world. 

It is thru the mind the records are produced, 
as the human mind is constantly generating and dis- 
charging and every thought discharged from the 
mind of the individual leaves its imprint upon the 
astral body. Now it is the improper use of the mind 
which causes much of the physical ills of today. 
The records or impressions made upon the astral 
body sometimes reflect so positively upon the 
physical as to cause a chemical change to take place 
causing sickness or health, according to the con- 
structive or destructive quality of the thoughts. 
Either consciously or unconsciously man is con- 
stantly building or destroying. 

Constructive thinking builds and perfects, and 



THE ASTRAL BODY 71 

destructive thinking destroys and breaks down be- 
cause the impressions on the astral body made by 
these thoughts reflecting upon the physical body 
produce results according to their quality. 

So you see the necessity of proper thinking. One 
should strive to perfect every idea before discharg- 
ing it, for wonderful results can be produced by 
good, wholesome, healthy, perfect thoughts, not 
only in the physical body but in every condition 
pertaining to the individual. 

There are those whose consciousness has not 
seemingly been illuminated during the physical ex- 
pression — but there are no lost souls; for every 
soul hath within it a spirit, and spirit is of eternity, 
spirit is of God, spirit is eternal and continues to 
live. And so long as it needs these various ex- 
periences (the spirit does not need them but the 
individual does) in bringing out the spirit, his 
particular spark to perfection, the school of ex- 
perience is before him and about him and he must 
go thru it. 



The mental sensations of individuals leaving the 
flesh body depend very largely upon the life they 
have lived and upon their thoughts, their expec- 
tations, and their feelings, whether of fear or 
eagerness to leave the body. Invariably the very 
last thought that man holds as he leaves the flesh 
is that of fear, as is the first physical thought that 
man holds. 

Fear is an earth thought. 

When man leaves the physical body after an ill- 
ness, his loved ones in spirit have made prep- 



72 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

arations to receive him and they assemble about 
him preparing to take him to his home, which is of 
his own building closely associated to the earth, 
and memories of those who have been with him. 
And sometimes if one is taken out of the physical 
body suddenly then he is carried to what you would 
call a hospital in your expression of life. It is not 
a place but a condition in which there are many in- 
telligences trained to do this work of bringing them 
back to consciousness and into a clear realization 
of the new life. In this condition things are made 
clear to them in such a way that they may know 
and that they may realize the composition of the 
new body, how to use it, how to nourish it and all 
of this. 

Man builds about him conditions which make for 
him that which is good and make for him that 
which is not helpful. The physical body is born of 
physical bodies, is brought into physical existence 
thru the physical expression, and into which is 
placed and imbued and grown in him, his soul, his 
individuality, and then comes a time when mother 
earth takes back into her bosom that which is hers, 
the flesh body. 

Death comes sometimes when man's physical 
body is perfect; when there is no preparation, so 
to speak, for the severance of one part of that 
being from the other. When the time for sepa- 
ration has not come thru a natural process the 
astral body is weak and not prepared for its tenant, 
it is not entirely formed, and does not hold the 
powers which are required of it to carry and bear 
into another life that man, that individuality. 



THE ASTBAL BODY 73 



When the physical body is perfect, when the de- 
sires for the physical expression are full and 
vigorous and ambitions, when the whole thought is 
building upon the physical plane of expression, 
when he has not a thought of spiritual things, 
should that soul be suddenly plunged by accident 
from that expression into a strange one, into a 
weaker body, prematurely born into a new life, 
then it is true that thru the law of gravity he is 
drawn by attraction down close to the earth plane. 

And by that law of attraction it is possible for 
him to develop and grow to that stage of perfection 
where it will be possible for him to rise into higher 
thought realms. But at first he is drawn close to 
those in the physical and there he grows and 
gathers strength and power for the real necessities 
of that astral body. Still during this time that 
spirit is unfolding, the individuality is growing 
purer, more illuminated ; he is beginning to see and 
to know — not to see thru the physical eye, but to 
see thru the great law of life. Then when the time 
comes that the astral body has developed to its 
fullest degree, has become perfect, has become all 
that it should have been, had death delayed for a 
time until that individual's physical body had cast 
it off thru a natural process, then begins its growth 
into another realm of thought where he not only 
helps man to build conditions, but builds and aids 
his fellowman in the flesh; and he rises into a 
higher conception of the things which are of God. 
But during this time that astral body carries that 
soul to all parts just as you would send a thought. 

Now we will tell you something of one who passes 



74 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

out from the body during disease — long illness. 
Unconsciously there is coming into his conscious- 
ness, without his realizing it, I would say, that 
little thought that the physical body is not going to 
stay long. That little thought gathers to itself 
more and more of the things of spirit. He may not 
express to you that he is rising out of the flesh, but 
the spirit forces who are assembled about him 
know and realize positively that that body is going 
back to earth and they hasten to aid in building and 
strengthening and perfecting that astral body so 
that it comes into that condition which is perfect 
more rapidly because all this time during the 
physical weakness they have been treating upon his 
spirituality, his individuality, his soul qualities; and 
in these instances they pass into the astral body 
with a clearer realization of how to use it, how to 
manipulate it, how to live with it, and they may 
more rapidly return to man. 

"When death comes by man's own thought, by 
man's own desire, when man in his mistaken 
thought of things crushes, destroys his temple of 
flesh, the mind holding that destructive thought, 
holding that desire within itself until it becomes 
an act, does not only crush the flesh body but re- 
tards the growth of the astral body. But if it is 
because of a diseased organ within that physical 
body, because of a deranged mental condition then 
the thought is entirely different; 'tis much the 
same as those who pass away thru illness; tho it 
scatters to a certain extent those forces who are 
assembled at all times about that individual. It 
breaks down that law which helps to build and 



THE ASTRAL BODY 75 

make the conditions right for the passing of the 
soul from the physical body. 

Now when men live on in their physical bodies 
until their bodies are bent and wrinkled with age — 
'tis a beautiful sight to behold from the spirit side, 
so why should you grieve for those who grow old? 
It is but showing that the astral body of that in- 
dividual has taken hold, the soul has taken hold of 
the astral body, it is working upon that, it is grow- 
ing and perfecting that, and the flesh body is grad- 
ually going thru a natural process, passing back to 
earth. 'Tis just the natural process of death; 'tis 
just mother earth closing her arms about that 
which is hers — 'tis because the outer body, the 
astral, is strong, is growing more perfect to receive 
that soul. 

And that is the lesson men are beginning to 
gather in their desire to build their physical bodies 
thru their mentality; thru the spiritual expression. 
They are touching upon that law which makes it 
possible for the physical body to remain perfect 
until that astral body is ready for that soul to step 
into it, expressing itself full and perfect. 



How to See the Astral Body Leaving the 
Physical. 

I will speak to you of the passing away of one 
whose body has grown weak gradually and the 
astral body has grown stronger because of this. 
If one places himself between the sun's rays and 
that soul and a soft gray light from one side and a 



76 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

soft green light from the other, if he puts himself 
in just as high a rate of vibration thru spiritual 
thought, he can see this astral body. What you 
speak of as the death rattle is the drawing of that 
astral body to a focus which is as a vapor lifting 
from the body, and seems like steam or white 
smoke and comes to the center of the physical body 
and then it will lift itself and sometimes sink back 
hurriedly, then lift and sink back again, and then 
lift until you will see it pass thru the walls. 

Then there are those whose astral body gathers 
itself together and for days they lie there because 
the mind within is filled with fear, it cannot leave, 
and it is conscious of the fact that it is leaving. It 
is much better for one to pass away in an uncon- 
scious state for all the loved ones in spirit who are 
assembled about bear it away where it is given the 
proper care, proper nourishment, thought force, 
and all the needs it will require until it comes into 
consciousness. But there are those who pass away 
in absolute consciousness and filled with fear — 
they are to be pitied. The astral body will lift and 
fall, and cling close to that physical body. This is 
why we urge you not to touch that body until so 
many hours after a person has passed away. 

The question is asked, "How long, after the soul 
leaves the flesh body, does it take to get the con- 
dition to send forth a message ?" As there are 
many different individualities it all depends upon 
the individual. Some even expect to return imme- 
diately and find they cannot because their con- 
ception of this has been so dim, so imperfect, that 
they expect to step back just as they are in the 



THE ASTEAL. BODY 77 

flesh, and so the physical thought prevents the 
manifestation. But one who lives spiritually and 
conies back over the love thought can sometimes 
speak within five minutes, it depends upon the in- 
dividual. They can appear instantly, immediately, 
as the soul slips from the shell body and bursts 
forth, if those who are about them are in that same 
vibration — it is all vibration — if you can build your 
thoughts and raise your vibration into spiritual 
expression then you can see your loved ones slip 
away ; but you are filled with grief and emotion — if 
you were physically possessed and thinking of 
spiritual things as that soul left the body and you 
were holding a clearer conception of spiritual 
things, you could follow that spirit in thought, you 
could see that soul take its flight, as it slips from 
that clay body. 



CHAPTER II. 
LIFE ON THE ASTRAL PLANE. 

In all the search that man has made and is mak- 
ing, comes the cry for more and more knowledge of 
the life beyond the grave — they are asking for more 
tidings of their loved ones over there. 

But the sonls returning scarcely know how to 
reach you, they hardly know how to tell you how 
they live; or how to make you believe that it is 
they who are speaking to you — and yet man in his 
eagerness to know, asks questions far beyond the 
spirit who manifests for he has been out of the 
flesh for a short time and knows very little of the 
life over there. Many of the things you read, 
many of the things you hear are parts of thoughts 
brought to you from souls who have been in that 
world of spirit but a very short time. 

Were you to be suddenly taken to a strange 
country where the method of living was entirely 
different from what you had been used to, and 
within a few hours after your arrival you attempt 
to send home word to those you left, do you think 
that you could tell much of the method of living 
there? Could you explain to them fully the things 
which you went to see? No. 

The mind of man upon leaving the flesh body 
starts just where he leaves the earthly expression, 
starts mentally right there, and he can see only 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL PLANE 79 

with that limited vision for a time until he has 
learned thru spiritual unfoldment how to cultivate 
the spiritual vision. Men ask whether or not the 
spirit sees as they see because in their limited ex- 
perience upon the earth plane of expression their 
vision is limited to the physical sense. The soul, 
the spirit of man does not see as you see with your 
physical eyes, but they see thru the spirit of con- 
sciousness within. They see thru the eyes of un- 
derstanding. Now, by this I do not mean to say 
the spirit immediately after leaving the flesh body 
sees thru the eye of understanding. The soul 
manifests more pronounced than does the spirit 
until they have worked and gone thru the process 
of refinement, which is a tearing down of imperfect 
conditions builded during the physical expression. 

So there are various stories told of the life over 
here — many things told to you that when put to- 
gether seem to conflict. There are many minds in 
the flesh today who may all tell a story of the same 
incident and yet no two of them will be alike be- 
cause each one sees thru his own individuality ; each 
individual sees thru his own light of understand- 
ing and one gives his vision of the incident and 
another his, and so on, and so it is with those who 
have recently passed over, so to speak. 

You harm those who have recently left the flesh 
body when you ask them to answer questions which 
they cannot truthfully and broadly give you. They 
can give you only that which they have gathered 
in their own consciousness, and that thru the light 
they gathered whilst in the flesh — but after a time, 
by repeated communication with the same individual 



80 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

spirit or entity, you will find a wonderful growth, a 
change in his thoughts. It is the broadening of his 
vision, it is the growth and cultivation of the inner 
spiritual vision for him. 

Now, it has been said by many who return that 
they eat and drink and they live much the same as 
man does in the flesh. So they do for a time, in 
their thought — in their thought — as one in a dream 
sometimes will eat, or thinks he eats. Many times 
there are those who have awakened after having 
partaken of a fine repast in their dreams and feel 
as satisfied almost as if they had really taken a 
meal in the flesh. So in this way as in your imagi- 
nation those who are very recently out of the flesh 
think they eat and drink. If they have given great 
thought to their meals while in the flesh they carry 
that strong inclination to satisfy the appetite of 
the physical body with them, and they can have the 
thought that they are eating and drinking — they 
are close to the earth — not because they are evil, 
no, but because their thought has not grown very 
far from the earth plane, and for a time they will 
stay very close to the earth, for these physical 
memories remain for a time. 

Frequently the first few times that some souls 
return to manifest after death, they reflect their 
last physical sensations upon the medium or in- 
strument thru whom they manifest. But this rarely 
happens if the flesh body has been cremated. 

When the last physical sensations of a soul are 
reflected upon the medium, it indicates that the soul 
in coming in contact with physical vibrations re- 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL PLANE 81 

calls the last physical sensations. This, however, 
is often a means of identification. 

Now, as man leaves the flesh body he merely 
casts off, so to speak, that instrument thru which 
the spirit and soul manifested during that stage of 
physical expression. After he has cast off this 
flesh body the same individuality exists. All his 
thoughts, his desires, his feelings of likes and dis- 
likes, feelings of hatred, avarice, selfishness, and 
all those qualities are a part of him if he has culti- 
vated them and allowed them to so much become a 
part of his individuality that he will cause another 
to recognize him by his characteristics. Can he 
shake them off with the physical body? Oh, no, he 
cannot put them in the grave, they live and are a 
part of his soul; they continue to live with him 
there until he comes into a clear realization of 
spiritual things. When he begins to realize that he 
is an eternal entity, that he must continue to live, 
that he must have more experiences, that he must 
go thru that same school of experience perhaps in 
another expression of life, then he begins to work 
to overcome those things which are detrimental to 
the spiritual growth of man. He must undo all 
that he has wrongfully done — there is no great 
mind going to say, "Your sins are all forgiven; 
they are all wiped away." No, but the Great God, 
the Great Source of all good makes every possible 
way for man to do this; great fields open up be- 
fore him, avenues broad and wide lie before him; 
but he must work himself thru them. No soul will 
carry him thru — each individual must do it for 
himself. 



82 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

And so how can you expect him who has just 
passed from the flesh body, whose mind is full of 
all thoughts of the earth, to tell you how they eat 
and drink and walk, and what they do and how 
they live. He can tell you how they live close to the 
earth plane as he has all the physical memories, 
desires and appetites, but to tell you what heaven 
is like, what the life over here is — it must be one 
who has shaken away all those physical memories. 
Some will overcome these immediately and they 
realize they are in a new life and at once they rise 
into the light of spirit. They find that the methods 
of keeping that new body, the astral body, are not 
by eating and drinking as man does in the flesh. 
But this new body must be nourished, and it is 
done, we will say, by drawing, absorbing from the 
atmosphere that force that you call electricity, only 
it is of a finer nature than what you know as elec- 
tricity. You have no conception of the difficulty 
one finds in bringing down into an object lesson, a 
clear picture of one life to him who expresses him- 
self in another — to bring out of the spirit world a 
vivid picture of their life to you is a more difficult 
task than you can imagine. 

Of all the many souls who return to tell you of 
the life over here, each has its own particular con- 
ception of it. Each can give forth to you his per- 
sonal experience and sensation, but as there are 
many individuals so each and every one senses the 
experiences thru which they pass perhaps a little 
differently; tho death is the severance of man's 
spirit from that clay body which has been the 
vehicle or the organ thru which he manifested just 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL PLANE 83 

during one of the various expressions or experi- 
ences thru which each individual must pass; one 
grade, we will say, of that school of experience 
thru which every soul in its growth passes, and 
thru that undeniable law of evolution man grows, 
refines and develops, unfolds, and steps eventually 
into another expression. 

When man awakens to the knowledge that he has 
another body so different from the one in which he 
was accustomed to manifest, he finds as he lifts his 
hand that it is so light — oh, the sensation is so hard 
to impart to you who have the weight of the 
physical — but it is strange to feel that lightness, to 
feel that nothing draws you down close to the earth, 
you can rise or fall, walk or glide, you can be 
where you desire to be instantly as quickly as the 
thought comes. It is not at first a beautiful sen- 
sation because that old memory, that thing which 
plunges you to earth, which dwells for many years 
perhaps in the consciousness of the soul after leav- 
ing the body, is fear. Fear never was born of the 
spirit; fear is the thing of earth gathered into the 
consciousness of man, and men, who have recently 
left their bodies, have that one thought, fear; and 
of what are they afraid? 

They cannot see as they have seen in the flesh 
body; they come into that realization that they 
know their friends and they know how they look, 
and can touch a thing without laying a hand on it. 
They see their thoughts, but they see without see- 
ing as you do ; they do not see the form of solidity, 
but they know it and that it is there. 

Harmony is of the spirit and until man outgrows 



84 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

or works away, we will say, out of these old 
vibrations, out of these old physical memories, he 
is bound in a sense to the earth plane — now I do 
not mean to say that he is an earth-bound spirit, 
but he is bound by those ties or memories close to 
the earth; then not staying constantly, we might 
say, close to the home, close to those whom he loved, 
he realizes the wondrous opportunities which lie 
before him. He must learn to live out of the flesh, 
he must learn to express himself thru that new 
body. 

Strange it seems to him that he feels so light 
and everything seems so plain to him. Things 
which always have seemed so deep or so mysterious 
are all now so clear to him. He can see into things 
and can understand them much better than when in 
the flesh body; then there comes to him the vivid 
and real visualization of all his earth expression, 
that quality of the soul, memory, awakens in him 
and brings before him vividly everything thru 
which he has passed in his earth expression. Then 
the question comes to him, "Where is my Master? 
Where is He who shall judge me? Where shall I 
find Him who is to pronounce the sentence which I 
thru my earth expression have brought upon my- 
self?" 

Some souls for years after leaving the body are 
searching and believing they are waiting for Him 
who shall appear to them as a man of the flesh, 
and bearing the same quality of body which they 
possess at the time, because they conceive, for a 
time, of no different vehicle than that thru which 
they express themselves. Souls who have believed 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL PLANE 85 

so strongly the old-time teachings, meaning that 
souls can be lost, and that their Master would come 
forth and judge them and cast them either into 
eternal punishment, or reward, have this thought 
so deeply impressed upon them that they live for 
years and years in that new life believing that such 
would come to pass, and they wait for an appear- 
ance of that God or Master who will judge them. 
Because of the old teachings, there are millions of 
souls today walking the earth who think they are 
waiting the day when they shall be cast into tor- 
ment, and they cannot get away from that thought 
until they receive the Holy Ghost. 

Now what is receiving the Holy Ghost? It is 
that reception of spiritual light — when you receive 
the holy spirit light which gives you the clear 
realization of the things of spirit. It is the spiritual 
awakening; receiving the Holy Ghost is when the 
holy spirit descends into your consciousness and 
comes forth with it an illuminated spirit; it is the 
knowledge which only the spirit can have and give 
and hold. To go back to the old-time way— a con- 
veying to man the things of spirit. But men have 
in their material conception of things so worked 
over and made over and reshaped and re-formed 
those truths until you would not recognize them 
were you to see them today and yesterday of the 
dark days. So you see what it means to imbue into 
the consciousness of the little child things which 
are before them, and tell them of the torment and 
such after death if they do not do just what you 
believe is right. 

Sometimes it takes many days, and sometimes 



86 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

weeks and sometimes months ; and it has been many 
many years before some souls awaken to the fact 
that the flesh body is gone, and yet they live and 
recognize those about them, those who are drawn 
to them thru love. 



So is it not time that man knows something, do 
you not think, of the experience thru which he must 
pass? How can these experiences be made clearer? 
How can we create for ourselves the condition 
which will prevent these conditions such as I have 
spoken to you? Now, I do not wish to convey to 
you that man should live entirely out of the 
physical expression in thought, but you can grow 
your souls and illuminate them with spiritual 
thought, aspiration, service, love; with all the 
things which reflect the God-head; and then when 
you step out of the physical into the spiritual you 
have builded a condition into which you will step 
and you have opened the way to your spiritual 
friends and others who have gone before that they 
may come more directly in touch with you. And 
the soul of him who lives spiritually during the 
physical expression, when he leaves the body he 
immediately rises and recognizes those about him 
as he sees them. 

If the flesh life has been spiritual and he has 
lived in holy memories of those who have gone be- 
fore, if they have communed, not in words, but in 
soul thought by spiritual meditation with those who 
have gone before in love, it is the perfecting or up- 
lifting and making more nearly perfect the souls of 
those with whom he comes in contact. He is mak- 



LIFE OF THE ASTKAL PLANE 87 

ing a way, building a stairway of truth down which 
his loved ones can come to help him out of the body 
up into the light; and then it will seem so simple, 
this stepping from the physical into the new life. 



(Taken from trance lecture.) 

So many things have been said, so many things 
have been written in response to the questions 
asked which have made men ask in a stronger tone, 
"Do spirits really wear clothes?" 

This question is asked in a laughing way; it is 
asked in a serious way, and it is asked by those 
who really want to know. Now that spirit return 
has been proven beyond all doubt, men are anxious 
to know of the pleasures they have over there, of 
the garments they wear, and of their manner of 
living, and so on. So I thought perhaps you would 
like to hear something of this. 

As we have explained in previous lessons, upon 
leaving the world of flesh man begins just where he 
leaves this world — in thought. In thought he takes 
with him the knowledge he has acquired whilst here, 
all that he has gathered within his mentality is 
recorded upon the tablets of his memory; all the 
things which tend to make for him a soul, for the 
soul, as we have said before, holds all of all the 
experiences thru which man has passed. Every 
memory and all the thoughts are recorded and tend 
to the building and making of the soul of man. 

The soul and spirit are one and yet they are not 
the same because the spirit is that part of the 
Infinite which is you and the soul is that part of 
you which is composed of your personal experiences 



88 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

and thoughts which individualizes the spirit — the 
spark spirit — and makes that particular spark you. 

Now man has grown from his very first ex- 
pression in the physical to live and always clothe 
the physical body. In all nations, all peoples, all 
classes, they have their individual method of cloth- 
ing the body — and they have learned, too, to clothe 
the spiritual self, to cover it. 

Those who live entirely material lives, whose 
every thought is builded upon the conditions 
around them during the earth expression, whose 
every thought is builded upon the betterment of 
their physical expression, not spiritual but material, 
whose every thought is amusement and beautiful 
clothes — now, do you think that upon stepping into 
the new life all those thoughts will be obliterated? 
Decidedly not; for all the individual desires, and 
hopes and aspirations go with them and are a part 
of them. The astral world is close to the earth 
plane and so they are close to the earth. Whilst 
they wronged no man, did no wrong, yet they sent 
very little by their thought that would suggest 
spiritual things, they had no thought beyond the 
comfort and adornment of the flesh body. All their 
ambitions were composed of material things, and 
when these souls step into that other life, do you 
not think they would have solid memories to take 
with them of clothing and material pleasures? Yes, 
they carry them along when leaving the flesh body; 
their memories are so vivid that they clothe them- 
selves in memory's garments; they see and feel 
with the sense of memory; they remember the sen- 
sations of the physical body; they appear to one 



LIFE OF THE ASTBAL PLANE 89 

another to be much the same as they Were in the 
physical; they hold so strongly this memory and 
they think they are much the same after death as 
they were in the flesh body. 

These are the souls who can and do so readily 
manifest; and you will see in all the writings, in 
all of the messages conveyed to the investigating 
mind of man, which tell of smoking and of dancing 
and of the amusements over here which are just the 
same as in the material world — it is from souls 
who have very recently left the physical body, not 
those who have learned to live the life in the 
spiritual world, the spiritual life, not those who 
have shaken away the physical memories and taken 
on the new expression in its fullness. It is from 
those who are still living in the solid memory of 
their physical expression whose whole thought 
world was composed of fine clothing and the things 
which amused them — and into that they step. 

But after a time there is silence, so far as com- 
munication from that soul is concerned — not that 
they are lost from their loved ones, but that they 
are penetrating the wall between the earthy ex- 
pression of memories and the spiritual, and a new 
expression of life opens up to them. They see the 
wondrous beauty of the spiritual life and they rise 
out of the solid expression into a finer, more real 
life where they can see and know. Where they can 
feel the call of the soul to service; where they can 
know the meaning of the wrong and the good which 
they have done; where they can hear the call to 
service either there or back to earth to teach man 
that he is eternal, that the eternal part of him is 



90 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

not the physical, to teach him how to clothe the 
spiritual part of himself. 

Then as that soul returns and comes closer to the 
earth plane vibration there comes upon him the 
realization that man could not clasp hands or speak 
to man unclothed, until minds have risen out of the 
physical thoughts which call for the covering of the 
physical body, adornment or protection, and as he 
comes close to the vibration of those who are 
psychic ethereally there is brought to them what 
would appear to the physical eye as a vapor like 
substance. The souls who have progressed out of 
the solid memory of the physical into a finer light 
of spirit, as they reduce to take on your thoughts 
in the coarser vibration of the physical and to 
appear in all spirituality, they are clothed in a 
vapor which is gathered from the atmosphere — 
ethereal. 

The souls who have returned and spoken to you 
or have written to you telling of the great amuse- 
ments and the smoking and eating the same as upon 
the earth plane, and of the garments they wear, 
are those who have recently left the physical body 
and have not penetrated the walls beyond. They 
have only learned that it is possible to reach you 
and that it is possible for them to walk and to talk 
and they live in the memory of their eating, etc. 

A habit acquired in the flesh is hard to over- 
come because memory and all your characteristics 
are with you; and this accounts for many souls re- 
turning to you and saying, "Why, yes, we smoke 
over here." They do not smoke literally speaking, 
but they have their old tendencies to these things 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL. PLANE 91 

and live so entirely in the memory of their life in 
the physical; they have all the sensations of the 
flesh for a time, until they become illuminated 
spiritually and begin to see the broad, vast possi- 
bilities before them in the field of thought. The 
Great Over-Soul reflects into their souls and they 
come into a realization of how limited are the 
things of earth. 

Souls have returned and said, "Yes, we drink 
wine over here." That is a part of their thought 
world, the home of their soul, it is merely memory. 
And it is memory, the great subconscious mind, that 
reveals to you after death every deed and every 
thought thru which you passed — not one of them 
can you close your eyes upon — then you behold the 
fruits of this, and of that, and 'tis that that haunts 
you; it is with you everywhere, it is a part of the 
home of your soul, and you live thru it with the 
understanding of what it really means. 

In your dreams you may pass thru a whole 
week's experience; you will have experiences in 
your mind and you will talk and when you waken 
you find you have been sleeping for only ten 
minutes. Now all these things in your subcon- 
scious mind are just as real to you and pass as 
quickly as those in your dreams; but it is a reali- 
zation of everything. It brings to you their posi- 
tive proof that your life has amounted to something 
whether it is a help to you or whether it is a cause 
of sorrow, it remains to meet you when you step 
into that soul's home. 

So when they tell you they drink and they smoke, 
know that they are coming from a lower realm of 



92 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

expression than you would desire to reach. Instead 
of delving into that realm, aspire to reach that soul 
and lead him into the light of spirit, for even 
though he has sinned there are good qualities 
within that soul and which are a part of his home 
over there, so strive to reach him thru that until 
eventually he has risen out of the old appetites 
which are so limited. 

There are those who return and say, "I always 
wanted to travel, and I do." There are times out 
of the home of the soul when you will take a flight, 
not as you would in the material walk from your 
home, but you will visit other homes and see what 
has become of their lives and this inspires you with 
a desire to do, and the way to overcome and re- 
build the soul's home which is builded of wrong 
doing is to return to the earth plane and serve your 
fellow-man. 

Though you in the physical have the power to 
think and send forth the power behind the thought, 
you cannot know the solidity of some thoughts as 
they leave your consciousness. Thoughts are in- 
deed things, indiscernible to the physical, for dur- 
ing the physical expression man is in a preparatory 
state, so to speak, preparing and growing into that 
vibration where it is possible for him to discern 
thru the sense of thought. 

And so they do for a time take into their con- 
sciousness, into themselves, food. Have you not 
(some of you have, some of you have not) lived 
thru an experience in your imagination 1 ? The 
imagination is a reflection of the language of the 
soul; and if your vivid imaginations of which you 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL PLANE 93 

speak are so pronounced, in some of you it is be- 
cause the soul responds to the unseen world and the 
many vibrations about you are recorded in your 
consciousness, tho you cannot comprehend it. And 
so those who have never builded a thought home 
in that expression beyond the physical, all their 
thought world is in close alliance to the physical, 
they have builded it entirely of the solid material 
thought and into this they step upon leaving the 
flesh body. 

Why does the soldier return in his uniform, or 
others in the garments which you remember having 
seen them while in the physical! Because in past 
years as the world beyond the physical in their 
endeavor to penetrate the wall between and con- 
vince man in the flesh of the reality of life and the 
truth of spirit return would present those whom 
you have called departed and they must clothe 
themselves in memory's garments; and that they 
may be recognized by you they appear to the in- 
strument thru which they manifest in the garments 
in which you very clearly remember having seen 
them. 

During their expression over there for a time 
after leaving the flesh they are clothed in memory's 
garments, but upon the penetrating of the finer 
curtain between the spiritual and strong reflections 
of the physical, they find a clearer vision of things ; 
they know that it is not the adornment of the 
physical, it is not the adornment of the outer ex- 
pression, but it is the glimpse within, bringing 
forth into expression the beauties of the soul. And 



94 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

then as they return to you, you will find their 
messages all contain love and service. 

When a soul returns and says, "I have a beauti- 
ful dress," it has the physical memory and it is 
clothed with it, the little world that soul builded 
in thought. When you read books which tell you 
of their homes and the experiences like those in the 
physical, know that it is true — but would you de- 
sire this? Or would you not desire to have a home 
of the real spiritual quality into which you can 
step upon discarding the physical body? 

Man is eternal — there is no end — and all things 
physical, all things imperfect thru physical thought 
or mental thought destructive, ends; will fall away 
and then the eternal spiritual man will ascend thru 
encircling darkness into the light. 

Yes, spirits wear clothes of their own thoughts, 
of their own thought world, clothes to adorn the 
physical, and then to return to you physically, they 
adorn the outer body, the astral body, for the 
pleasure or satisfaction of minds in the physical, 
but in spirit they clothe the soul with beauty, with 
service, with love. 

So let us see, as we see in our ascension the 
manifestation of the spirit, and we will know them 
not by their physical appearance but by their souls, 
their thoughts and their deeds. May you find the 
way which leads you thru the density of that life 
immediately across the plane where you will take 
all your physical memories. Go thru them for your 
physical experience in the physical body but build 
a highway thru those memories into a spiritual 
light, for there you will find yourself upon leaving 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL, PLANE 95 

the flesh body, in the thought world which you in 
your life have created. 

Spirits wear clothes — the spirits of you wear 
clothes; clothed in the thoughts of you. If they are 
spiritual and pure, or if they are earthly and un- 
clean, they are woven by your own individuality. 
May you live and learn and walk and grow and 
ascend into the eternal light of spirit. 



The law of life draws the souls to the realms to 
which they belong. They are assembled in groups, 
they can visit any realm they desire. They can go 
into another realm as missionaries where they sow 
the seeds of light and truth; and they help some 
souls to waken spiritually, but they cannot live 
there for any length of time, they can stay only for 
a short time— this is the great law of life; all are 
assembled in the place where they belong. 



Know that if you have cramped within you the 
Godspark so that it is dreary, cloudy, and there is 
nothing but smoke which seems to come forth, it is 
because you have made it so. But there is no 
individual whose qualities are such but that that 
inner spark, that Godspark, can be touched and 
illuminated and be brought forth. It can be stirred ; 
it can be touched upon thru the mind. And it some- 
times lies at rest until the individual himself finds 
it, and when he has found his Godspark he grows 
more rapidly and touches and illuminates all lives 
with whom he comes in contact. 

There are lives filled with dark shadows whose 
real individuality has been marred by their strong 



96 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

suggestive thought — these are the souls who find 
great difficulty when leaving the flesh body. Now 
I do not say that their loved ones do not meet them, 
but if they are not in the same vibration, then they 
will stand alone. You can stand alone even though 
you are among a large gathering of people, because 
your thoughts are in a different channel; they are 
not in the same thought realm that you are. 

And so the individual soul as it passes from the 
body in such a state will not be alone practically 
speaking, but when the realization comes, they 
practically stand alone until they have builded their 
own individuality to such a degree that they can 
ascend into spirit, and there they find every oppor- 
tunity to unfold and bring forth that spirit, the 
Godspark within. 



It has been said that those who return and mani- 
fest in their astral bodies are not good. I grieve 
for those who have that thought; because I know 
that they do not know the truth. There are pure 
souls in the flesh, yes, and when they step into the 
astral, do you think they would pass thru that stage 
without manifesting? No, because the law of evo- 
lution is everlasting and inevitable; therefore, it is 
a stage of expression, it is a stage of evolution; it 
is a part of man's expression, a part of ihe making 
of him to His image and likeness; he must pass 
thru all these different stages of evolution, of 
growth and expression until that day comes which 
cannot be counted by the physical, nor can it be 
known by them, but into that day he eventually 
comes. 



LIFE OF THE ASTRAL PLANE 97 

, Do you not realize that yon must learn to use a 
new body? You must learn to nourish that body 
and not by the same process or manner in which 
and thru which you take care of the physical. One 
cannot plunge into it and manifest perfectly and 
be in every sense of the word, at home. You must 
learn, you must pass thru every stage of it. 

When man is taken suddenly from the physical 
expression of life into spirit expression then you 
have the earth-bound soul, thru that law of gravity 
which draws close to it that which does belong to 
it and which belongs to this planet until that soul 
has ripened to that degree where it can rise into a 
higher thought realm. All souls are not ripe when 
they pass away, neither are they thru with the 
physical expression, but if the physical body be- 
comes too weak to hold it, just as nature brings 
forth everything as it should be at its proper time, 
that astral body is just strong enough to gather to- 
gether and it can manifest close enough to the earth 
plane to take it and gather the earth experience 
thru which it must pass. This body, the astral, 
carries the physical memories and desires and 
appetites and thoughts. A man who is weak, filled 
with that undesirable appetite for intoxicants, 
craves it and in his last moments begs for it and 
you give it to him; he passes from that body and he 
still lives. Was it that piece of clay that wanted 
it? No, the clay body did not want it, it was he 
who wanted it; it became a part of his mind and 
he craved it and continues to crave it. This is why 
many poor, weak minded people are drawn into 
that realm of thought thru environments and such 



98 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

because these hungry souls crave it within their 
astral bodies and ask for it; seek for one who will 
drink for them. This is an absolute truth; and not 
only with drink, but with other weaknesses. These 
weaknesses are so imbued into that astral body 
that just for a time that astral body is drawn close 
to the earth plane because the individual who mani- 
fests thru it is desirous of coming in touch with 
some one who is weak as he was, so that he can 
gather the taste, for the taste is still there, all 
senses are so pronounced for a time, but only for 
a time. But as the spirit grows and the things of 
spirit become clearer and the things of God become 
visible to them, the earthy lower desires drop away. 
That soul is still in the astral body but manifests 
from a higher realm into a higher service. 

But where they come to serve and aid, (and in- 
variably these are the ones who will come to help 
and to lift their fallen brothers who were like 
them) they will serve those whom they know are 
undeveloped and weak as they were. We are still 
speaking of the astral body when we speak of those 
who manifest, since it is the astral body which 
holds the strong reflections of those appetites and 
desires. 

Therefore, it would be well to begin to build up a 
perfect astral body — I do not urge you to think of 
the astral body and no higher, but make your de- 
sires pure, your thoughts pure, and serve humanity. 
When all the thoughts are of spirit, will not this 
become imbued into the astral body and will it not 
return to do these things! Yes, just as thru those 



LIFE OF THE ASTBAL PLANE 99 

desires which are not good, this is true largely of 
those desires which are good. 

When man discovers that he has a new body, 
another body which is very easy to handle or thru 
which to manifest, then there comes before his con- 
sciousness the yesterdays, the memories — for three 
things will meet man upon that day — the yesterday, 
the today and the tomorrow. Yesterday, with its 
lost opportunities and mistakes; its cold material 
thoughts interwoven with selfishness and thought- 
lessness — today, with its fear and apprehension, its 
doubt and hesitancy — tomorrow, into which he can 
see and look and visualize. And then he sees so 
far into that tomorrow that he cannot conceive of 
the things therein for him; but in his spiritual 
growth and aspiration he delves into it — and grows 
spiritually into the tomorrow. 



CHAPTEE in. 

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL 
PLANE. 

(We trust our readers will find this chapter both interest- 
ing and instructive; and that it will be accepted as absolute 
proof and truth coming from the souls who have passed into a 
realization of spirit, who are in touch with the great Over- 
Soul, who would not stoop to deceive their fellow-men in the 
flesh. 

These personal messages were given to different classes of 
"Circles of Light" during the course of lessons which are per- 
sonally conducted by the higher intelligences (great minds who 
have passed out of the flesh but still working for the uplift- 
ment of humanity) and were given in a clear and loud voice 
so that the stenographer in an adjoining room was able to 
make a complete and accurate verbatim report of the different 
lessons. The spirit teachers permitted these individual souls to 
manifest as object lessons.) 



(1) 

(A former evangelist, Rev. J- 
I was informed tonight that this was to be a 
missionary meeting, so I have come here to speak 
to you. I appreciate the invitation and I hope that 
at some time in the future I may be able to assist 
you in your work. I am no orator, never was a 
fluert speaker, but I have with me a message I 
would like to impart to you. I would like to tell 
you just exactly the condition I found myself in 
when I left the body because I know that all man- 



PERSONAL. EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 101 

kind hungers for this knowledge. I know that the 
very first question that man asks about the other 
life is, "I wonder how it seems to die. I wonder 
how it will seem when I die and leave this body." 
And so I believe that the first message that I shall 
give you tonight will be my experience beginning at 
my death. 

While this may not be as scientific or as deep as 
I heard the gentleman preceding me say, yet I feel 
that it will be interesting to you and that it will 
give you some knowledge of the conditions which' 
exist in every moment and every second of the day 
and night. Constantly there are souls leaving the 
body, and always are they having their own indi- 
vidual experiences; but, first, I think it will be 
necessary for me to tell you something of my belief, 
something of my thoughts, something of my life 
and of my environment when in the material body. 

I was born of poor parents ; I was the only son, 
and my parents were old in years when I came 
into their life, and so I had very few opportunities 
— and at a very tender age I was cast out into the 
world to find my own way. And this, I think, is a 
very good thing for boys and girls, for it brings to 
them strength of character and independence. 
However, I went out into the world ignorant of her 
ways. I educated myself a little, so that I was able 
to mingle with my fellow-men; and I was attracted 
to just such a place as you have in your city today, 
the evangelistic services.* I was converted, and I 
taught the people that expression of light, and I 



*This message came thru during the Billy Sunday meetings 
at Buffalo. 



102 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

lived in it and walked in it, in so far as I could see, 
or feel or know. I prepared myself for the ministry 
and at the age of 35 I had a congregation, and 
there I led my little flock with what I thought to be 
the truth, and they bore the banner of "Fear the 
Lord" — these were my words and these were the 
words I meant and believed to be the proper staff 
for man. But as the years went by I began 
to feel a presence about me; I could not ex- 
plain it ; I believed that I was having some peculiar 
nervous affection. I believed that sometimes I was 
out of my mind — I could not conceive of why I 
should have such peculiar thoughts, which seemed 
to come to me in conference as I sat in my study to 
prepare my sermons, and distinctly I remember 
one afternoon, as I was working over my books and 
the Bible, of which I was a great student by this 
time, I felt a hand softly placed upon my shoulder 
and I was filled with genuine fear. Friends, I can- 
not explain to you the fear that possessed me, as I 
heard these words spoken to me, "We are coming 
to take you away." I knew no more until I found 
myself in bed, a sick man — and as those words did 
come directly, to my memory it seemed that at 
some time and somewhere I had heard that voice 
before. I could not connect it with my mother's, I 
could connect it with no one, and yet it was a 
familiar voice. 

Friends, my mortal body never rose from that 
bed — and they told me that I must die. Oh, that I 
might lift from the souls of mankind that terrible 
fear of death — friends, I think there is nothing 
equal to this fear. Staring me in the face was the 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 103 

positive and the actual fact that I must die ; I must 
meet this God of Wrath, in whom I taught and led 
men to believe. Now I must meet Him and I felt 
sure that he would cast me down into the depths of 
hell because I had not done more for mankind — I 
had become so involved in this fear, and I knew not 
why. Then there came upon me one morning, as 
my family were assembled about my bed, a strange 
presence. Again I felt that hand, this time upon 
my brow, and these were the words I heard, "Fear 
not, fear not; we have come to take you home." 
And then as I tried to speak to my family, I found 
that my tongue did not move, my lips did not move, 
I could not speak ; I could see them as they seemed 
ts speak to me, but I could not hear them, and still 
I could hear away in the distance the sound of song 
and music ; and then I seemed to be lifted from the 
bed ; and I was filled with renewed strength ; I tried 
to say I was well, but they seemed not to hear me, 
but they sank upon their knees and wept — and 
there, behold ! upon the bed lay my body — then I 
knew that I was dead, and again that terrible fear 
came upon me. I wanted to go back — I couldn't go 
away— "Oh, Lord, spare me that I may do more 
than I have done for my fellow-men." I prayed, I 
wept, but there came upon my ears nothing but 
silence — then I slept and upon awakening, I found 
myself in darkened space — fear was gone but I felt 
a weakness. Again I heard a voice — it was that 
familiar voice saying, "Thou art not alone," and 
behold! before me stood that form and that face I 
had seen in my dreams so many times, but whose 
name I never knew. She placed her hand upon my 



104 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

shoulder and received me in open arms — I met my 
mother ; I felt her kiss, her hand, and I knew it was 
my mother's. I now recognized loving and familiar 
faces; and then there came into my arms my babe 
whom I loved and of whom I was the father- — and 
then I knew that I had passed into the heaven of 
truth. 

Once again came upon me that fear. "Oh, 
mother," I said, "When am I to appear before 
God?" She said, "Son, fear not, your God will 
speak to your soul. He is within you now." Then 
I passed into what seemed to be a gray dawn, it 
wasn't blackness, it wasn't light, but it was like a 
gray dawn. I felt a presence, and all about me 
seemed to be emptiness until there came upon me 
one grand and glorious light, and the dawn seemed 
to bring to me a something which I cannot explain 
to you now. It seemed to open and I saw a perfect 
landscape; every blade of grass was perfect, and 
each flower was of a perfection — indescribable to 
the mortal mind. I heard a voice which said, 
"Walk along this pathway, brother; you must im- 
part to the consciousness of man, light not fear; 
and until you have told the truth, until you have 
felt the truth, and know that God is the Spirit of 
Love and Perfect Light, you will find much for 
you to do." 

Then I seemed to pass into silence, and I slept; 
and in the next chapter I found myself in my read- 
ing room, in the pulpit, and there I tried to speak 
to my people ; but alas ! they heard me not. There 
stood one who had taken my place, and he, too, was 
telling them of the wrath of God, and who would 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 105 

meet them and cast them into punishment. Oh! I 
cannot tell you how hard I tried to tell him what a 
terrible mistake he was making. He did not hear 
me and did not know that I was there, but I waited 
and watched and longed, hoping that some time I 
would be able to tell him. So, Sunday after Sun- 
day, I stood upon the platform with him; and one 
day one of my little Sunday school girls was called 
upon to speak her experience, and thru her I spoke 
to them, and told them that I was not dead; that I 
still lived and that God is Love. 

Oh, how I thank you for this chance to speak to 
you. God bless you, my friends, Good night. 



(2) 
Good evening, friends : I met with some difficulty 
coming in here tonight. I feel that perhaps you 
had better help the soul here who tried to hinder 
my entrance — a gentleman who thinks he is doing 
right, for he always felt that it is not right for the 
laymen to investigate along these lines. He was a 
priest in the material expression of life, and he 
passed away only a short time ago, and as he thinks 
it is wrong for the laymen to investigate spirit re- 
turn, he endeavored to hinder my entrance into 
your circle. I will ask you to pray for his soul, 
and I shall pray with you. 
(Class prays for the enlightenment of this soul.) 
Thank you, friends, thank you. Now, it is not 
that I thought that the gentleman was not as pure 
and good as any soul who ever walked in the flesh 
or out of it, but it was that he receive a clearer 
vision and a clearer light. 



106 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

(Class in unison, "God bless you.") 
I have been trying to manifest for some time and 
because of his vibration and mine being very much 
the same, he hindered my entrance — however, only 
by his thinking that he was doing good. He felt 
that it was his duty to prevent spirit manifestation. 
However, he will become enlightened. 

I had investigated spiritual communication and 
spirit return for a great many years before I left 
the flesh body; I made a study of that for almost 
20 years previous to my transition, and so I feel 
right at home when I come into your midst. 
(Class in unison, "You are welcome, friend.") 
Thank you, that is a feeling of encouragement; I 
feel your welcome — I felt the unspoken welcome 
upon my entrance, but you have a work to perform, 
rather a duty, in helping those who are passing out 
of the flesh with that thought. They have believed 
that it was wrong for spirits to return to men and 
women who were not of the clergy. Therefore, 
they are returning and endeavoring by every pos- 
sible means and methods to prevent the spirit 
manifestations, because they believe that it is not 
right. 

Now, the thing for you to do is to send a prayer 
for them; for their enlightenment; that justice and 
that right will come into its own and that nothing 
but that which is right shall come about. And I 
tell you this, brothers and sisters, (I am going to 
call you that) you will find that spirit return will 
grow stronger and stronger thru all the years to 
come. It has been said that the things of God will 
live and that the things which were not of God 



PEKSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 107 

shall not live. Now, spirit return has been thru all 
the ages — since man has had intelligence, since man 
has grown spiritually, and therefore it is of God, 
or it would have long since passed into oblivion. 
Is this not correct? It is very plain today that it 
is a thing of God, and it is rising out of all the 
prejudice and ignorance and manifesting every- 
where. 

Thru all the stages of man's growth spiritually 
and thru all the stages of man's unfoldment, it has 
been evident in the histories which man reads and 
yet cannot find the real meaning therein, there has 
been the proof of manifestations of spirit return. 
The voices coming from the unknown have guided 
souls in all walks of life, and in your books upon 
your shelves you will find records of this. But, to- 
day, a universal knowledge of this is being gathered 
into the consciousness of man. He has reached that 
stage of spiritual growth where he knows this is so. 

Now, this gentleman who came here tonight, in 
all the goodness of his soul, prayed that I would be 
prevented from entering your room tonight. He 
says it is a thing of God, not to be touched upon 
by the laymen — that laymen must always be led by 
the ecclesiast. But you must send your thought to 
this soul because in his misunderstanding and mis- 
conception of the Great God, and the idea within 
his consciousness that it is wrong, he is making 
efforts to prevent manifestation in various fields 
and thru various avenues. 

He will not succeed, however, because anything 
of God is bound to come into manifestation before 
all else, no matter how strong a detriment and a 



108 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

prevention one may be, and with your clear con- 
ception of Truth there is bound to be a more rapid 
growth of the wonderful cause to which I dedicated 
my thought before I passed — and continue to give 
it today. 

I attach myself to no one in particular, but I 
come to all conscientious searchers who walk along 
the roadway of spirit return and spirit communion. 
1 leave you now, God bless you. 



(3) 

Good evening, friends: Repeatedly I have been 
with you, but very often I find that it is impossible 
to speak. When I was here about a week ago, I 
couldn't make a sound. Perhaps the medium was 
not present at that time. But I have come to greet 
you once again as I promised I would call 
occasionally since I left the physical; also I have 
visited countless places open for spirit communion 
since I last visited you. 

The desire always has been, and it is all the 
stronger today, to prove to humanity that spirit re- 
turn is a fact. I realize that you are unable to see 
me, and, therefore, it is required of me to give you 

my name. It was W S . However, after 

awhile here the names that we carried or rather 
get there, amount to very little here. We are 
known here by our vibration, by our influence, by 
our thought. Therefore, it is by our appearance 
that we are known, for the appearance to the soul 
or to the spirit is not as the appearance of the 
physical body to the physical eye. It is very much 
as your conception is as you become acquainted 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 109 

with them. Your thought of them is in their per- 
son or physical appearance, and it is the per- 
sonality, the characteristics, which impress yon, 
which yon hold in your consciousness as your 
knowledge of them, and so it is here. We know 
each other because we can sense their real selves, 
the real meaning, the real person, and in that way 
the name slides away from us. 

That is why a great many spirits who have been 
away from the earth plane for a great length of 
time are not giving their names. This causes in- 
vestigators whose minds are still very limited be- 
cause of not having gathered a great deal of knowl- 
edge from the spirit world, to doubt the message, 
and because of the spirit being unable to give his 
earth name the mind in the physical expression 
thinks that it is not good. 

Now the lesson that I propose to give you tonight 
is along these particular lines. It is very wise, in- 
deed, when the message is conveyed to you directly 
or personally, to demand to know from whom it 
comes. But when a message is conveyed to man- 
kind in general, holds a universal thought, a uni- 
versal message, it is needless to know the name of 
the intelligence behind that message because a name 
is given for the very shortest period of man's ex- 
pression in life — that is the physical expression. 
This explains very clearly why how very frequently 
a spirit returns as a guide and guardian or helper, 
and gives a name which is a symbol, or as a 
thought, and it holds within it, for instance, hope, 
faith, love, and such words which are used by the 
spirit very frequently, when man demands to know 



110 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

who is the spirit or intelligence behind the message. 
Now this does not in any way cover the personal 
messages conveyed to you directly from your 
friends, because it is the very beginning of the in- 
vestigative field of thought, that man knows from 
whom he receives the message, and to whom he is 
speaking. But very frequently a spirit, long since 
disembodied returns to the earth plane with a uni- 
versal message, with a far reaching message to all 
humanity; and he has so far grown away from the 
name, or the memory of it, that it is some time 
after they have come into your vibration that they 
are able to recall even the memory of a name. So 
very often they are mistaken for masquerading 
spirits when they are not. 

There are, I am sorry to say, many spirits on the 
lower realms desirous of manifesting, and if man 
has not been first prepared by knowing the laws 
and protective forces, which I understand you have 
been taught, and along which lines I know that you 
have been very much enlightened, it would be dan- 
gerous for one to enter the field of investigation 
for the purpose of spirit communion. 

During my investigation along this line in the 
physical I found very much difficulty in proving the 
identity of those from whom I received messages, 
and I determined a short time after I left the body 
to investigate along these lines, and find out why 
it was so many times very hard to find out the name 
or hear it or to bring it forth. The more rapidly 
man progresses away from the physical expression 
after passing from the body, the more rapidly he will 
outgrow the memory of that earth name. It is be- 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 111 

cause a very small fraction of man's existence has 
been spent in that limited thought upon the earth 
plane, the very tiniest part of his life is in the 
physical where he has been given that name. 

But for a direct personal message, always de- 
mand the name. If it is a universal thought which 
holds in it the thought of the upliftment and help- 
ing of all mankind, then it may be the blending to- 
gether of various minds, and that message may not 
be conveyed from one mind, but from a group, a 
great group, while working in that realm endeavor- 
ing to bring down to the physical mind of man, or 
to the mortal world of man, so to speak, that mes- 
sage. 

Now I hope this is a little help along the line of 
investigation. I have learned also that it is pos- 
sible for man to manifest in a seance room when his 
body and he are still together, but they can only 
manifest thru the organism of a medium. Very 
often a message is conveyed independently by the 
spirit of one who is still with them, or who is still 
in direct line with their body, but thru a mind in 
direct line with them and the instrument. These 
manifestations cause a very confusing condition; 
therefore, it behooves man in his investigation to 
learn much of the laws of psychology studying the 
power of the mind incarnate that you may be able 
to discern the message conveyed to you from the dis- 
embodied intelligence and that conveyed to you from 
the mind carnate. There are some of you who are 
giving great thought to the building and rebuilding 
of the physical body. I am sorry to say that I must 
leave for want of more voice sound. Good night. 



112 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

(4) 

The following is a message from the spirit of Damon, an 
Egyptian slave. The question might arise how did this soul so 
long out of the flesh know the English language, so we asked 
the spirit teacher to explain, and his explanation follows: 

"A soul long out of the flesh whose greater and clearer ex- 
periences have been in the other life, upon returning to mani- 
fest can draw the language (thru which to convey the 
message) from the minds of the students in the flesh. 

"Many souls years and years out of the flesh would find no 
more difficulty in speaking a modern tongue than their own. It 
is the thought which they give through any language familiar 
to the students gathered." 

Good evening, my friends : May I have the privi- 
lege of telling you some of the things I have learned? 
I dare say it would be of little benefit to tell you 
the name I bore whilst there; but Damon was my 
name when I dwelt on the earth plane, many, many 
miles away from here. I was a poor slave during 
my material life, and I had no opportunity to learn 
or to inquire into the things my soul so craved to 
know. 

My greatest desire was to learn, to know some- 
thing beyond the humdrum life I lived. I wished to 
travel and see and learn and know, and since I have 
left that material life I have learned, I have trav- 
eled, and I know more, but I feel that there is still 
much to learn; and ever and ever we will find that 
we have yet more to learn. On the material plane, 
when opportunity permitted me, I would sit and 
dream and wonder if the beautiful stars seemingly 
in the heavens then above me were inhabited. I 
used to think that perhaps I might be able to reach 
these wondrous lights and know whether they were 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 113 

merely lights or worlds. I used to think, but I know 
not why I thought, that death would some time re- 
lease me ; then I could soar to these stars and know. 

Now, since I left the material plane, never until 
the last few years, have I had the slightest desire 
to return ; but now I find, and I sense the vibration 
coming from the enlightened minds of men asking 
for this knowledge my own soul so desired. I find 
those here who spend hours in a closed room asking 
enlightment. So I come by the kind invitation of 
your teachers to tell you something I have learned. 

The death of my natural body and the beginning 
of my spiritual life was brought about by the cruel 
hand of the unenlightened master. He, in his un- 
developed mind, felt it was necessary to keep under 
his control the slaves and thus thru his ignorance 
his hand smote me unto death. But out of the dark- 
ness came a light and to me this was a grand awak- 
ening; to know that I bore no man's burden but my 
own — and I found that every burden meekly borne 
is a mountain of strength. I found that man was or 
is his own master, and that man is free to learn and 
seek, and help others. 

After leaving my body there was a time which to 
me was and is a blank, but upon waking out of this 
comatose condition I felt a freedom — and friends, 
would you believe it? it filled me with fear for I had 
never experienced the sensation of being free and 
my own master. However, this sensation was short, 
then there came a realization that freedom was 
mine, and I recalled that desire to travel. I at- 
tempted to travel and it was not a pleasure to me 
because I had first to be educated or to progress 



114 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

to a stage of unfoldment where I could understand 
the laws. It did not mean only going from one place 
to another, but it meant learning the lives and the 
conditions of the people of those parts. Slowly I 
began to realize and to gain knowledge. My great 
desire to know brought me thought force and I 
visited all parts of your planet, yet there was that 
strong desire to know the others as well. 

But I found that before I could reach Mars, I 
must reach a certain stage of progression. I will 
explain to you friends, as clear as it is possible for 
me to do so, that surrounding your planet, or our 
planet, (for I was one of you) are the disembodied 
souls whose lives have been spent upon your planet 
— and so it is — as spiritual light is acquired we 
progress, and it becomes possible to travel farther 
away from the earth plane. Then we find visiting 
us all the seekers of light from other planes. Now 
I will tell you the little I have learned of Mars. 

So far, friends, I have learned that this planet is 
larger* and older than ours, and, therefore, has 
reached a higher state of development — they have 
progressed far beyond the earth people. I find that 
it is peopled with those who have passed thru a 
wonderful spiritual progression. During their de- 
velopment they have passed thru much the same 
conditions as the inhabitants of your planet. They, 
too, have had warring countries; they, too, have 
passed thru the age where there were hundreds of 
doctrines and many conceptions of God, where their 
minds were confused and they knew not what to 
believe. 

♦Greater — in view of its development. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 115 

They have passed thru all these conditions and 
have risen above them. They were animal eaters — 
which is wrong — they have passed that stage. 
When man has ceased to eat flesh it is more possible 
to bring out his spiritual development. They live 
entirely upon fruits and vegetables. There are very 
few animals upon that planet and they are domes- 
ticated — there are no wild animals, but there have 
been. The land belongs to all men; each has his 
own little part which he desires, no more. Children 
are born only thru harmony and desire. Their 
teachers are all disembodied spirits; their schools 
are circles like yours; they receive their teachings 
thru independent voice and independent writings. 

I am one of the silent listeners as you have been, 
seeking knowledge to carry it to others — I am learn- 
ing. May I come again? I have much more to tell 
you but your material strength seems to come to 
me less freely; but I did not realize that I was 
drawing so much of your material strength. I am 
sorry to have tired you. Good night. 



(5) 
Good evening, friends : May I ask you to sing for 
me? (Class sings). I thank you. Upon entering 
your room tonight I was informed that it was mis- 
sionary night, or in other words, that I might be 
admitted to speak to you. For this privilege I thank 
you. I suppose you all recognize me upon hearing 
me speak. I have visited you upon previous oc- 
casions and the last time I was with you I promised 
you I would return and bring you some of the light 
I had acquired, tho perhaps very little. 



116 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

The first time I visited you (I think it was your 
little group or if it was not this group it was a 
similar one) I was so overwhelmed with the realiza- 
tion that it was possible for me to speak, to direct- 
ly present to you an audible message, that my words 
were very much disconnected. Tonight I come to 
you as one of you. I, too, am a student of light, 
and I have been very close to you and to those dis- 
embodied members of your circle until I quite feel 
that I can clasp your hands and say, brothers and 
sisters. ' 

Upon one occasion I visited you and spoke, and 
you promised me and I promised you that we would 
join hands and do that work which would tend to 
the upliftment of mankind. I come to you now, 
urging you to help me to rectify some of the state- 
ments I made while in the body. True, many of 
my thoughts, many of the words I sent out into the 
universe, were thoughts born in my consciousness 
from minds out of the body — tho I knew it not. 
But intermingled with those thoughts were the 
thoughts which I had acquired in my study as I 
prepared for the ministry. 

That I can speak to you I know will be very much 
criticized and very bitterly denied by many great 
minds today, perhaps by those who personally knew 
me whilst in the body, and for their benefit I will 
say this : I shall speak personally to many who will 
bitterly criticise the statements I am about to make. 
That the spirits return, I am here to prove; that 
man holds his individuality, I am here to prove; 
that the new day will bring direct communication 
from one world to the other, I am here to prove ; that 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 117 

my work is unfinished and I have yet much to do, I 

am here to prove that P B lives, I am here 

to say, forever and for all eternity. 



(6) 

Good evening : I have not long to stay, but I have 
come tonight to thank you for your help. I promised 
to return to you and tonight I have that privilege. 
I am continuing the study of the mind and environ- 
ment, but it is difficult to find just the proper chan- 
nel thru which to carry back to the earth plane the 
knowledge as I acquire it here, but if you will bear 
with me, I hope that I may be able to carry thru 
your channel some light, some knowledge, some 
facts, as I acquire and gather them here. 

Since my last visit to you I have visited many 
channels thru which it was possible for me to come 
in touch with the mortal plane. And here I will say 
that in various parts of your planet today there are 
coming into existence and being developed many 
doorways thru which it will be possible for us to 
penetrate and in the audible voice, but they are far 
apart in every instance. 



(6a) 
Friends, I have passed thru the pangs of death 
and know what it is to fear. I lived in mortal terror 
of death ; but, behold, the portals swung wide and I 
had no need to fear. I beheld my mother standing 
there, I knew her, and knew that I was safe and that 
I would live again. I found no Grod of wrath wait- 
ing to send me into eternal torment — I deny the ex- 
istence of any such being. 



118 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

God is love, God is spirit, God is harmony, God is 
in everything that lives. 

One is here whose name is Christopher. These 
are the words he sends. ' ' Here there are no nations 
— there is no line that divides. There are no enemies 
to him who seeks thru the light of God, the spiritual 
light in God. We live in God; we die in God; we 
serve; and across the river we will join hands. 
There are no enemies. 



(6b) 

Good evening, friends, my name is W P . 

I have been away from the earth plane for a long 
while and have been studying for the work for some 
time. I have been in what we call the school of pro- 
gression preparing for work of this kind, but I am 
not yet fitted to take charge, but, however, I will in 
time. 



(7) 
Object Lesson on Cremation. 

(Spirit Voice) : You are having some kind of a 
meeting here — what kind of a meeting is it? 

(Class) : This is a spiritual research class — we 
are searching into the spiritual realms for informa- 
mation. 

(Spirit) : Do you want me to tell you some- 
thing? I had a son ; and when he was a baby he had 
a fall which injured his spine. It did not affect him 
in appearance, but it did affect his body. He came 
over here before I did, but he told me all about it. 
When he came over here, every time he thought of 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 119 

his old body, his astral body would feel stiff the 
same as that body of his on the earth plane did, and 
he had that feeling until that body on the earth was 
entirely gone. Now, if you can explain that, do so, 
and I will tell you what I found out about it. 
(Class gives individual opinions). 

(Spirit) : Yes, just as long as that earth body 
lias form it reflects on our body here. It reflects on 
our astral body — call it that — they got names over 
here I never heard before. ^ 

(Member of class asks if it would not be better to 
dispose of bodies by cremation). 

(Spirit) : There you are — it would have been a 
great deal better if that old body of mine had been 
burned. I can't help but take a look at it once in 
awhile. I don't think of it, but I have to take a look 
at it 'occasionally because 1 am interested in it and 
I can't help having a feeling for it. I suffered a 
good deal from cancer — oh, how I did suffer, and 
every time I see or sense that body I feel that can- 
cer, yes I do. Now, I won't have any trouble like 
that after that body has gone back to earth, not at 
all — that is what they tell me over here. 
(Class tells him to stay away from that old body, 
not to think of it). 

(Spirit) : Oh, I just as soon watch the old 
thing — it can't last forever, you know, and I can, 
so I might as well have it as long as it lasts, and 
may be I can teach somebody something. You 
know it is not always the one that talks the best 
or has the best flow of English who can give you 
the best lesson — you know that. 



120 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

(Class offers to send him their good thoughts). 

(Spirit) : Oh, don't bother about that; however, 
I would appreciate them. 

(Class explains the power of thought). 

(Spirit) : I would like that all right — you know 
that there is something in thought. I used to have 
more fun with my daughter — she was always tell- 
ing me to have a good thought and things would 
be all right. I used to get sick and tired of it, but 
I have found out that there is a great deal in it. 
But I used to get sick and tired of this "thought" 
business, "just think you are all right" — when I 
had a pain in my stomach something terrible. But I 
find that thoughts are things, and there is a great 
deal in the thinker. Now I will tell you something 
about this — people can have their Sunday thoughts 
and their Monday thoughts and their everyday 
thoughts, but it is the people who have their good 
thoughts every day who get in tune with the best. 
You know life is a big thing ; it is a big problem and 
the best thinker is the man who plays the best tune. 
Well, I must be going now, good bye. 



(8) 
Good evening, friends : I wonder if I may come 
in and talk to you. Perhaps I can tell you some- 
thing. (Class welcomes him). I don't know any 
of you people here but I am just a common man. 
Perhaps if I should tell you that my name is George 
Washington I would be more than welcome, but I 
am not; I am only just a common everyday man. 
I have been wanting to come back for a long time 
because I wanted to tell you, or somebody, about 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 121 

what it is to die. You know I had a terrible fear 
of death. I thought when I died I was going 
straight to hell, because I never went to church very 
much, and so when I came to die I did not feel very 
comfortable, but I died and I have come back to 
tell you something about it. 

You know when they used to tell me about hell, 
I thought it was a great place where they kept 
tumbling us all in and we kept on burning — but I 
found there is a hell all right, only it is not a place 
that you tumble into. I have found out, too, that 
you can build a heaven without going to church. 
Now I want to tell you something else. When I 
died I didn't know it — I was on the bed and all at 
once I found myself standing beside the bed and I 
was wondering what my wife and family were cry- 
ing for — now, this is gospel truth — when I found 
out what had happened to me I was scared; then 
I saw somebody I never saw before. I saw a 
woman; then I went to a place (I call it a place 
because it seemed like a place to me) and I was 
there for a long time. Sometimes I remembered 
that I had died and then again it seemed only a 
dream. I saw a lot of familiar people when I 
wakened and they instructed me. They explained 
to me that I was in another life now and it was 
time for me to get to work. Work ! well, I thought 
that I was all thru working, but I found there was 
still lots of work for me to do. 



(9) 
Friends: If I can be of assistance to you, I 
shall be glad. I am also going to ask your help. 



122 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

I have a great work before me which I find very 
difficult. A very short time after my death, I came 
to some people and I promised that I would help. 
My thoughts those days were to return and take 
control of the organism of our ministry, our priest- 
hood, but I find that my work here prevented that. 
I found all about me were souls who knew nothing 
of death ; knew nothing of the condition into which 
they were passing or had passed. I found souls 
so full of the thoughts imbued into them by us in 
our efforts to teach that they were unwilling to 
work ; were unwilling to communicate ; unwilling to 
serve, and believed that they were to wait for a 
time until the prayers of earth helped them to 
progress — very different from the way they must 
work to progress. They were bitterly opposed to 
my returning to communicate. I found difficulty in 
this, and there were some of them who came to re- 
tard manifestation — invariably preventing spirits 
from communicating. 

I work in this sphere and I feel that there is a 
strong tie between you and me because of our one 
familiar place — Buffalo. It is hard for me to 
communicate without first greeting you in my old 
familiar way. All teachings are good in that they 
help man to be better, but when they make the work 
harder — retard spirit communion, or in any way 
prevent it, it is a terrible mistake, because it is 
time that men become enlightened; thus learning 
the effects of wrong doing; learning the truth of 
spirit return; learning the positive conditions be- 
yond death. Therefore, I stand with you and for 



PERgONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 123 

you and by you. I ask your assistance and most 
assuredly I shall be of assistance to you. 

My name was C when I was there — which 

name I think is familiar to you. I leave with you 
my blessing — in the name of the Father (Infinite 
Love), the Son (Universal Harmony) and the Holy 
Ghost (Absolute Wisdom). May God bless you. 
Good night. 



(10) 

I am no learned man, but I have had some ex- 
periences that you have not had — one of them is 
death. But I am still alive. (Am I supposed to 
keep time to that music, or just talk?) 

(Class: Oh, just talk — that music (electric Vic- 
trola) helps the vibration). 

Oh, I see; before I got very near you I saw a 
purple light and when I came closer I saw that there 
are a great many different shades of colors, al- 
together making one beautiful shade of purple. It 
is pleasing to me — it gives me a calm feeling. I 
will tell you what that is; it is restful to me. It 
brings to my memory — well, I don't know just how 
much you people know about life over here or any- 
thing like that, but we are schooled here, not in 
buildings, but thru some sympathetic law. There 
are people here who have passed thru the same ex- 
perience that we have and then they passed thru 
more experiences and they are our masters or our 
teachers as you would say — and we receive instruc- 
tion from them. 

Now, they do not speak to us like I am speaking 
to you — it is funny how you hear my words when 



124 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

I have no physical organs — it is vibration. Well, 
that is how it is conveyed to us only we don't hear 
it, we know it. Now that is a hard thing for me, a 
man not capable of teaching, to explain to you. We 
get it thru what you might call telepathy, altho in a 
different condition, and that is the way we receive 
our lessons. 

Well, the thing I am trying to get to is this: 
The other day in our lessons, we learned that pur- 
ple is a restful color. If we were in the physical 
body and in a room where all the color was pur- 
ple, we would become extremely nervous, but when 
away from the physical body the most restful color 
we can ever see is purple. That explains to you, 
I hope, why I feel so much at home, so perfectly at 
ease here tonight. And if you could see physically 
the color around you as I see it, possibly you would 
be nervous because it would effect the nerves, but 
in not seeing it, merely feeling it thru the psychic 
power you feel that restful condition. , 

There is a little child here — I wonder who it be- 
longs to, he is trying to reach some one. Come on, 
dear, step right in, I will wait for you. Bless that 
child — I love children. 

(The little soul manifested to its mother, a stu- 
dent in the circle — message, personal, not rec- 
orded). 



(11) 

Good evening, friends : For about 22 or 23 years 

I have been trying to get back to the earth plane 

with a message. No one killed me, / killed myself. 

I spoke right there when they sentenced that man, 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 125 

but nobody beard me. Do you know why? I know 
why now. Because the man that heard me would 
not tell ; he said he thought he imagined it — he did 
not believe it, but why didn't he tell what' he 
learned? 

Say, don't you think that I have been in hell? To 
know that that man never laid a straw in my way — 
we had a few words that evening, but nothing seri- 
ous. I was discouraged; I took my life, killed my 
body, that is all. And to see them take that man 
and weave a net to prove that he took my life, and 
me standing right there and with a great effort I 
finally spoke to a man who heard me, but who said 
it was imagination. He allowed public opinion to 
hold him back — and he is over here tonight. 

I am not coming to prove to you spirit return, 
but I am here to tell you what hell is. It is not a 
place, for a place you might get out of some time ; 
but it is a condition that you can get out of only 
by your own efforts. 

I don't know how far I can go with you — how 
many of you people think because I did that I am 
condemned? (None) Then what am I? A gentle- 
man out here tells me that I am a sick soul. May 
I ask a question? Are you people here to help 
souls or are you here for curiosity? (Class as- 
sured him of their help.) Then, in the name of 
your God, take away the law which permits them 
to take a man's life thru circumstantial evidence! 
If there is anything in your life that is worth any- 
thing at all, you would try to overcome this. In 
the name of your G-od, overcome it! "Will you 
do it? 



126 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

How do you suppose a spirit who holds its in- 
dividuality, holds its intelligence, feels to look down 
into the minds of men when they are all accusing 
him of a crime he never committed; mourning him 
as gone; mourning him as lost forever, as burning 
up in hell? (Class asks what is the condition of 
such a spirit.) 

When he has outgrown all these conditions, when 
he sees why it is so, when he sees the minds of men 
softening, when he knows that there are armies 
of spirits returning to tear down the conditions 
that brought that about, when he knows that 
the door into the spirit world is opening wide, 
when he knows that he will meet those people, 
if not in your, life, then in this life, he will rise. 
He will not need to return to the earthplane to tear 
down the conditions he builded there, for has he not 
paid the price for all that he might have done? I 
am only one of countless souls who are working 
to tear down these barbarous conditions. But now 
the minds of men are full of something else — it 
makes no difference what the condition might be, 
we work always to tear down that which is wrong; 
we never waver and we never change. 

I cannot tell you what I suffered during that 
man's trial; and what I suffered when that spirit 
left the body. I met that spirit and I spoke the 
words, "I know you are innocent." Could I bring 
peace to his soul? No. 

It must be for 23 years that I have been trying 
to do just what I am doing tonight. I wonder if 
this is as a dream to you, or do you really know 
that I am speaking to you. Where do I get this 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 127 

voice? I hear it, but it does not sound like my voice 
as I recall it. I know I am speaking — but, oh, how 
little I know. Can I tell you something without 
you thinking that I think I know more than any- 
body else? Do you know there is one thing I have 
learned since I came here — I have learned that the 
spirit, until it rises entirely away from the earth- 
plane, is a monothoughtist. They carry one thought 
and they pound upon it until they have builded the 
thing they are working for. That is what I have 
been doing. 

You hear the words I speak — do they come to 
you as dots and dashes, or do they come as waves, 
or do you hear the words as spoken words? (Class 
answers that the spoken words are heard as in any 
audible voice.) Then I have reached that some- 
thing which makes it possible for me to speak. A 
man without a body brought me in here, a man 
whose Jieart and soul represents that living foun- 
tain of love — his name is W P . Good 

night. 



(12) 

When I awakened the desire to investigate, to 
explore, came upon me, this being a very part of 
my personality, and with my guide I passed thru 
various stages of experiences. Now as I relate 
them to you as they appeared to me — perhaps you 
may be led thru the same and it may have a very 
different appearance to you — however, I am giv- 
ing to you MY personal experiences and the inter- 
pretations of them. 

The first field into which he took me was one — 



128 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

now let me compare the sensation I had in this 
body to some sensation that might be felt in the 
flesh, that you may clearly comprehend thru your 
memory the sensation as we go along. Understand 
it was not physical sense — but I can compare it to 
intense cold, as the physical body will sense it, a 
shock, and then I saw forms; some were parts of 
bodies, and some were complete bodies. I could 
not understand why this appeared thus to me. I 
saw forms of children, and forms of men and 
women, and there seemed to be no consciousness 
which responded as we came to them. 

Now he, whose hand I held, who guided me thru, 
made clear to me that which may not be clear ^to 
you, because you seeing thru your individuality 
and I seeing thru mine may create a vast difference 
between the two. He explained to me very clearly 
that these were souls whose astral bodies were just 
assembling, we will say, or parts of this body gath- 
ering when the soul had just left the flesh body 
suddenly, without having completed the physical 
expression. The body was there complete, but I 
could not see it because it was not all in the same 
rate of vibration. 

He made it clear to me that I could receive a 
clearer light upon that lesson if I returned again 
to the same — shall I say condition or place? He 
said I would then discern a perfect body, animated 
by the soul, the spirit of the individual, whose 
astral body alone I knew at this time. 

I did return, and under his guidance and thru 
his insearch learned that they were there for a 
time after leaving their bodies suddenly as by ac- 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 129 

eident or such; and as your flesh bodies are often 
imperfect, and as there are those in the flesh who 
make a particular study that they may build and 
aid men to build their bodies, so there are those 
who are given to that work to aid the soul in 
bringing into expression its astral body perfectly 
formed, altho their physical expression had been 
broken off before it was complete. 

Now these souls whose spiritual bodies I beheld 
and which appeared to me to be incomplete, not 
manifesting at that time, were in a state of coma, 
an unconscious condition. Perhaps in your re- 
search souls have not returned as soon as you be- 
lieved they would after death, and perhaps some 
do return and tell you that the ones after whom 
you inquire, who have not returned, are sleeping — 
and this is the condition they are in. 



(13) 

Good evening, friends, what is this gathering, 
some society or what? (Class answers that it is a 
research class, endeavoring to investigate along 
the line of spirit return and the continuity of life 
after death.) 

I thank you, but I know little of the laws, very 
little, but perhaps I will be able to help you — per- 
haps not. 

I passed out during an earthquake very sudden- 
ly. I was the victim of an earthquake on the coast 
of San Francisco — if that will be of any value to 
you. I am no authority on this subject, but I am 
interested. All the days of my manhood I devoted 
in the service of the teaching of Christ. Now, as 



130 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

I return I hope that I may be of some benefit to 
you. 

Of my early death, a mere experience, I can tell 
you very little. I can only say that I was sitting in 
my study, preparing my sermon. Sometime after 
I awakened to the fact that I was out of my body. 
I knew that I was in the presence of many who had 
experienced the change called death long before 
I had. My brother, who had left our home some 
twenty years previous to that time, was the very 
first one I recognized. But personal experiences 
can be of little value to you in your search for 
knowledge of life after death, so I will not bore you 
with any of that, but I will tell you of some of the 
things I have learned, if that will be of value to 
you I shall be happy, and if not, I shall be sorry. 

This is a very strange experience to me, altho I 
have manifested many times. My very first at- 
tempt to manifest was thru one of my fellow-stu- 
dents, in giving his morning sermon. I stood very 
close to him and because I so determined to make 
him understand that things were not just as rep- 
resented, or as he was presenting them, I inspired 
him to speak words which he had never spoken be- 
fore and words he had never believed. I caused 
him to forget that he had studied, to forget that he 
had prepared a sermon — and that you might better 
understand, we will not call it a personal experi- 
ence, but we will feel that it is a lesson. 

Upon awakening to the fact that I had died and 
that death was not what I had expected it to be, 
and that the dead were not what I expected them 
to be, that my ideas were far from facts, but that 



PEBSONAL EXPEBIENCES ON THE ABTBAL PLANE 131 

after death we met with cold positive facts, I felt 
compassion for my fellow-men who were in the 
same thought I was in and who believed as I had 
believed and taught as I had taught. And so I 
made haste to return — and here I will pause to tell 
you of the great difficulty I met in my efforts to 
bring to my friends and my fellow-students the 
facts I had gathered after death. 

I found that I might stand by them and speak, 
but they were deaf to my words — I might stand 
before their eyes, but they were blind; I might em- 
brace them and they knew it not. I found that I 
must learn more of the laws; I must learn more 
of the psychic laws upon the mental plane ; and this 
I made haste to do. Here I will pause to tell you 
that I found that it was one- year from the time of 
the shock which severed my soul from the body be- 
fore I awakened to the fact that I was no longer 
upon the earth plane — one year a blank — one year 
for which I will never be able to account — one year 
lost — of this I have no recollection, whatever. 

In my endeavor to learn of the psychic laws of 
life, I found that it was possible for me to convey 
my thoughts to other minds by other means than 
hypnotism. This was by placing- myself in direct 
harmony with one who was in the act of conveying 
a lesson, who was in the act of sending forth a 
thought, who had gathered minds close to him and 
had them all in harmony with him. In that act 
I placed myself in harmony with that mind and I 
caused him to speak the words that I thought and 
Which he had never known before. It was not only 
by his consciousness ; it was not only the impression 



132 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

upon his mind, but it was the impressing upon the 
minds of all who were assembled who were in per- 
fect harmony with the thoughts that he was con- 
veying to them — for it is made more possible for 
an inspirator to accomplish the things he is en- 
deavoring to do when there are minds assembled 
who are in harmony and who are reaching out to the 
mind of the speaker. 

All thoughts reflected from the physical minds are 
known to the spirit. The vibrations are coming 
from every conscious mind there and they assist 
the inspirator to send forth his thought — but he 
cannot deliver the full thoughts in a room where 
there is no other mind in harmony with the speaker. 
No inspired mind can speak inspired words to 
empty seats. The speaker must reach the minds of 
the auditors and then the inspirator can accom- 
plish the things he desires. 

Your instructor tells me that I must let you rest. 
Some time I shall be permitted to speak again and 
then we shall continue along this line. Good night. 



(14) 
Good evening, friends: I feel that the thing I 
am about to ask of you will, perhaps, meet with dis- 
approval, but I find that I have a message for you, 
brothers and sisters — I feel that I may call you 
such, tho when I was living in your midst there 
dwelled in the heart of each of you a feeling of 
prejudice toward me and my followers. I was 
then an inhabitant of your city, and it is not long 
since I laid aside my mortal body. And I will say 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL. PLANE 133 

this: That there dwelled within my soul no preju- 
dice or bigotry against any man or creed. 

Will you recite the Lord's Prayer? 

I am not thru with my work, but I find that it 
will be necessary for me to take up another method. 
I find that the doctrine upon which I grounded all 
my teachings is far wrought — the doctrine of the 
forgiveness of sins. It is not true, and why should 
so many souls become so inconvenienced by this 
positive wrong? Why are you prejudiced against 
any church? Why do you allow it to affect the poor 
individual? Oh, friends, it is wrong. Each one of 
them in their own innocence is gathered into the 
fold and instructed in one particular faith and not 
allowed to read or study any other faith — and be- 
cause of this they know no other way. I will say 
positively that I taught what I sincerely believed 
to be true, else I never would have taught it. 

I surely wish to reach my beloved successor ; and 
I sincerely hope that my soul prayer will be an- 
swered by the great spiritual friends, messengers 
of God, when it will be possible for me to speak to 
him, and tell him wherein are these terrible mis- 
takes. 

How sincerely did I believe in prayer for for- 
giveness of sins, and what a terrible realization it 
was to me, to know that the things I believed in 
were not, and that I was a messenger carrying to 
mankind this false message ; so it grieves me deep- 
ly. I wish to reach all churches. 

How many souls I have met in my travels since 
I left the earth plane. I will tell you something 
of my experience of passing out— and when I give 



134 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

you this, I will ask you to consider this favor ; take 
out all prejudice; rather live up to the words I 
heard one of your members speak tonight, "We 
recognize the universal brotherhood of man." Do 
not allow to live within you any prejudice toward 
man, your brother. 

I will tell you something of my experience. I was 
not feeling physically well for some time previous, 
and many times when I sat in my study I seemed to 
feel a presence, and I always thought it was my 
guardian angel that I always believed every in- 
dividual had. And I seemed one day to hear the 
words, "You are coming home soon," but I thought 
it was because I was nervous, and I simply rose 
from the chair and tried to gather myself together 
and to make myself think that I was mistaken. 
This happened on three different occasions be- 
fore I came away. The day that I became so seri- 
ously ill, I heard again, "You are coming home 
soon," but I did not even then realize the end was 
so near. I passed on where I met many experiences 
which were personal and which I will not mention 
here; they would little interest you since they are 
personal. 

But I asked in all the sincerity of my soul, 
"Where is God? Where is my judge?" I found 
myself sitting alone meditating, as I had many 
times in my study, upon the wonderful truth of life, 
and while sitting there, I became aware of the same 
presence I had felt on those three occasions of 
which I have previously spoken. This time I found 
that it was possible to see the one who stood beside 
me, and he said to me these words, "You have come 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON THE ASTRAL PLANE 135 

home; your judge is within you; he lurks within 
your soul; he has always been there and yet you 
found him not; come with me." And I went; I 
followed him to a brink where I found numerous old 
acquaintances gathered together, and they all 
seemed to be praying, praying, repeating the old- 
time word prayers. I asked them, "Why is this?" 
And they said, "Oh, Father, we are waiting to be 
judged." Then there came into my soul a terrible 
realization — the judge lives in my soul, why is he 
not in all? As I went forward they said, "We have 
sinned, we are in purgatory waiting the judgment. ' ' 
I remained but a short time for I seemed to be 
drawn away — and I went on. I cannot begin to 
express the wonderful sights; and I passed an 
eternity which seemed to me but a moment; and 
then I came to a drifting shadow — it seemed to be 
a dark place where many were working. 

A woman whom I had known recognized me — 
they seemed to be working industriously at some 
unfamiliar set purpose, and I said, "Why so much 
work; why so much effort; how comes it?" Then 
I recognized a face familiar long since of a woman 
stepping before me with head bowed and she said, 

' ' Father , you were the first one to speak a kind 

word to me, and I will tell you something that will 
perhaps pay for your kindness. I did not go to 
your church, I did not believe in your teaching, I 
knew nothing much of that, but in your world I 
was a fallen woman, and yet when my heart was 
heavy and my head was bowed in sorrow; when I 
tried to rise above those conditions, every one 
would pass me by; every one would hold me down 



136 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

that I could not raise myself above it; but you said 
to me, 'Go forward; there is hope for you; God 
loves you.' You left those kind words as a light 
for me, and now perhaps they can be a light for 
you. ' ' 

I passed around with this soul where I saw many 
souls which seemed to be passing thru a course of 
purification; and she led me to the edge of this 
dark shadow, and there I seemed to lose her pres- 
ence. As I passed on fear crept into my soul and 
I sank upon my knees and prayed that I might see 
the real light. 

Again I felt that presence of which I spoke, say- 
ing, "Go forward, undo all that you have done that 
you think is wrong, all that weighs on your spirit, 
then your greatest desire shall be realized." And 
now I will say, friends, that my greatest desire al- 
ways is that God will reach the soul of every man, 
and this is my lesson. I shall first reach my own 
church and then I shall reach all the other churches 
thru the organism of our clergy and tell them that 
it is not forgiveness but atonement. I now leave 
you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost. Good night. 



CHAPTER IV. 
HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT. 

On the plane of spirit manifestation, next door 
to you, homes are not builded of material but of a 
finer ethereal quality — these homes are builded by 
your deeds, your thoughts, your acts. 

Heaven and earth are one — God's plan — God is 
all, perfect good, perfect justice, perfect love, a 
perfect pattern, and all that each of these things 
hold. This is God; no wrath, no destruction, no 
partiality — every soul is an eternal light. 

Man will say, "If the dead live, where are they?" 
In the mortal expression they are in space, but in 
the spiritual expression they are in that realm of 
thought in which they have placed themselves by 
their lives in the body. If a man is desirous of 
being good, of helping to uplift his fellow-man, he 
finds himself in the realm of that thought where 
it is possible for him to do this. He finds his 
memory, his ambition reaching out to those sen- 
sitive minds of others who are in the same realm 
of thought that he is. If a man lives a life of sin, 
lives only for himself, he finds himself shorn of all 
those things for which he aspired, when he steps 
into the next expression ; for the things which are 
of mortal mind cannot live in the spirit World, 
they fall away. 

So if you want to start your heaven today, you 



138 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

have everything with which to do it ; but if you want 
to lean upon the old-time thought and when you 
get over there come back and try thru all the dif- 
ferent avenues possible to serve and to build your 
heaven, why, it is your privilege; for every soul 
has an eternal chance to live, to rise and to build 
his heaven. 

You say your loved ones are in heaven — of course 
they are ; they are in their own heaven. The world 
of spirit is in what you call space, that which you 
cannot see thru the eyes of matter because it is in 
a higher rate of vibration. Our bodies are ethereal 
bodies and are emersed in ether, as well as yours, 
yet we are in a higher rate of vibration, and can 
rise and go just as rapidly as your thought will 
travel, but we are close to you. 

Heaven is within you — search within your souls 
and there you will find the kingdom of heaven; 
there you will find God's spirit. You are building 
your soul's home every day of your lives. The 
spirit of God is within you, is without you, every- 
where is God. Your loved ones in spirit are close 
to you; live in the thought of a clear conscience — 
invite them into your heaven and you can reach 
into their heaven in spiritual aspiration. 

What is a clear conscience? 

A clear conscience is — I have done something 
good; I have tried to help some one; I am doing 
all I can to be good and I want to be better. You 
create a clear conscience by living right, doing 
right, loving one another, looking not for defects, 
looking not for little hurts from your neighbor, but 
taking the lesson, not looking for anything but good. 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 139 

The conscience which makes man unselfish, speaks 
to him all good. The conscience which is so sen- 
sitized thru spiritual light cannot go wrong; can- 
not deceive, for it makes you true to yourselves and 
true to your fellow-men, and you are creating a 
heaven all about you — and there you will find your 
loved ones. 

You create a clear conscience by living right, 
doing right, and when souls return with a great 
lesson, be looking for the good, and aspiring ever 
and ever to good. Now you say that you cannot 
live this way while in the physical — you are very 
much mistaken ; you can apply truth to all things ; 
you can be true, and tho you have a struggle at 
first, truth will rise and truth will make you free. 
And so in the heaven of a good clear conscience, in 
this little home, learn truth in your everyday life. 

So let us strive to build a heaven of perfect bliss, 
for God lives within the conscience of every soul of 
man; God manifests there, and your loved ones are 
in their own conscience and in their own heaven. 
Yes, and you can speak to them, you can touch them 
and know that they are with you. 

God has revealed to man today that death does 
not end all ; that He lives and that He has not taken 
his loved ones from him. God has revealed today 
that tho the great battles of man's so-called ene- 
mies took their loved ones from them, God gave 
them back and they are here and they are speaking. 
So forgive your enemies, love all mankind, build a 
heaven of a clear conscience. For when you step 
out of your physical body, with a clear memory 
you will find yourselves looking back into the past 



140 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

pages of your lives and you will know that all 
things which come to you are of your own creation. 

Years ago man could not reach out so far intel- 
lectually or spiritually; he was stronger physically 
and weaker mentally. The highest he could reach 
was to picture heaven as a place of rest, a place of 
beauty, a place of music which would be pleasing to 
the ear. He knew only the senses of the physical 
body — and these were to be pleased in heaven. 

But as man rises mentally and spiritually he sees 
with the spirit, he hears with the spirit, he knows 
with the spirit things which are spiritual, things 
which are not tangible, things which the material 
eye cannot see and the material ear cannot hear — 
pure spirit. Heaven, to a man who has come into 
that light, is beyond the expression of mortal mind. 
He only knows that it is purity, perfection, rest, 
peace and love. This premonition comes while he 
is still embodied in the mortal. And as he steps 
into the chamber of silence and speaks with the 
spirit, out of the silent chamber of thought there 
comes the sweet message that he is a part of God's 
plan, that he is not all mortal; that the body he is 
feeding so earnestly is only for a short time, but 
the soul never dies. 

Man as he steps from his mortal body, if his life 
has been wholly earthy, if his desires have all been 
for self and he has forgotten that he has a soul, will 
find himself in a very strange place. But even then 
there will meet him at his bedside or at the place 
where his soul rises from the body, those he has 
loved. They will be there to meet him and they will 
guide him along the way, even tho he is heavily 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 141 

laden with sin and wrong doing — but they will not 
stay with him. He can see them and yet he cannot 
reach them, until he has builded a bridge of light 
in truth and purity and love, until he has done this 
he cannot come into the realm in which they dwell. 

And when a man passes from the body in such a 
condition, can he expect in two hours or a day to 
build a perfect bridge over which he can pass ? No, 
he cannot. For living things are the thoughts he 
has sent out, living things are the wrongs he has 
created, and he cannot kill them until he has, thru 
his own effort, his own desire, torn them away. 

If you live the truth, you cannot help but speak 
it; if you speak it you cannot help but think it; 
and if you think it you cannot help but live it. The 
spoken word is just an outer manifestation of the 
inner, but the example you show in your everyday 
life is a reflection of the soul within you. 

The sacrifices — not that you cast out that man 
may know what you have done, but the little things 
you do, which only those who are benefited know 
— these are the lights along the way. It is by let- 
ting your light shine by the spirit within which 
goes forth and touches the consciousness of many 
other souls ; by letting your light shine and making 
the illumination of the soul, by the spirit within, 
you are burning out conditions which were created 
by living in sinful thought, which if you do not undo 
while still in the flesh body, you will have to burn 
out after death. 

THANK GOD for every trial thru which you 
pass, for it is a step toward heaven ; it is a washing 
out of some condition within the soul of you with 



142 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

which the clear vision of spirit could not dwell in 
happiness. It is a burning out of some of the ex- 
perience which you will never have again ; it is the 
overcoming of many things in your past life which 
you have builded perhaps thru ignorance. 

Every trial, every sorrow, every hard experience 
thru which you pass is a blessing of God in your 
life — a blessing and not a shadow; it is a great 
light, it is a fire to burn out the little hell which 
you have created. And when you have passed thru 
it, you have passed thru the fire of purification ; and 
some of the conditions which you have builded, and 
which have become a part of you (your soul) are 
gone, and a finer, purer, whiter light is there in 
place of the other. There is a purity and truth 
thru which the spirit illuminated can manifest 
spiritually perfect in the soul in its ascension at 
death. 

When your new body into which and thru which 
you must manifest receives you, you find yourself 
not weighted down with the flesh, you find yourself 
free, your memory clear, all your past is before 
you, save that which has been burned out by bitter 
trial and sorrow; yet, bravely and truthfully you 
find all before you that is yours. If you have sinned 
against your fellow-man and caused many to fol- 
low you — what can be the pangs of the soul upon 
seeing and realizing, not as a picture, but as a great 
experience, all the wrong you have done, if it is 
still a part of you, if it has not been burned out by 
service while in the flesh? On the other hand, all 
the good you have done is still a part of you. 

Is the home of the soul of you illuminated with 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 143 

kindness, with goodness, with love and self-sacri- 
fice, or is it filled with bitterness and hate? 

In your soul's ascension you will find that life is 
eternal. In your soul 's ascension you will find with- 
in your consciousness a realization that it is well to 
build your heaven whilst still in the flesh as well 
as out of it. 

He who will say and do just for the glory of it, 
he who will serve that all mankind may know that 
he is a good man, then when he finds himself out 
of the body, what awaits him? The glory which was 
not genuine is gone and only the true motive be- 
hind the act exists — then what? He is shorn of all 
material things; only spiritual things can adorn 
the home of the soul so he must start to build his 
heaven by first tearing down, burning out the false 
conditions which he has created. 

So be true, be true to yourselves and to your 
fellow-man. Let TRUTH be your watchword in 
everything you do; and when you delve into the 
great law of spirit communion, you will receive the 
spiritual things, and the souls who are akin to you 
will come close to you. 

So let us unite in the great thought that today 
we are making and building the soul's home ; we are 
today souls, and so let us ascend thru the glorious 
light of spirit — because when you have no flesh 
body you will be away from all material things, 
and what will you have if your home life in the 
physical has been all material, all selfishness ? 
Therefore, we say deal with material things ma- 
terially and spiritual things spiritually. 

Let us unite in the great thought that we will 



144 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

pass thru trials, and we will praise God for them 
and bless all about us for the great opportunity to 
build a heaven and ascend higher into the spiritual 
light. And when the great day conies when you 
will no longer have that physical body then you 
shall see the work you have done. 

Why not begin today to live a pure, unselfish 
life, to rise and reach out to the glorious and grand 
realities which are yours? Let us help you; let us 
show you the way. We have learned by bitter ex- 
perience those things which we would teach you; 
because when we dwelt upon the earth plane, man 
in his ignorance and prejudice closed the door to 
the higher realms. But today you are privileged 
to open the doors wide and listen to the soft voice 
of the spirit. 



(The following is the testimony of a spirit given 
at one of the Circles of Light.) 

Friends: I was attracted here tonight by the 
singing of that old familiar hymn, "While the 
Years of Eternity Roll." Did you ever stop to 
think that you are in eternity now? I find myself 
looking back to the time when those words were 
most precious to me, when my poor weak mind 
could only gather the thought that I must live well 
to reach eternity; that I must die to behold all the 
beauties in my imagination ; that I must not stop to 
appreciate the world in which I was living then. 
Friends, I did not realize that I was in eternity 
then; that I could feel and see all the beauties of 
heaven then if I but made them about me. With all 
my heart I used to sing those old hymns in which 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 145 

I thought I would have to go far away from my 
loved ones where I might sing praises all day long ; 
where the streets were paved with gold and where 
hymns were sung all day. Beyond this I had no 
hopes. 

Now, children, this is all out of reason. Golden 
streets, I found them not; I did find that all the 
music I heard was in my own soul made by the good 
I did while on earth. It has always been man's way 
to imagine heaven the most beautiful and perfect 
place. Do you realize that heaven and hell are on 
your own planet? Do you realize that you are in 
eternity now? It is so. We are all spiritual beings, 
only you have not passed thru the change called 
death. 

It is many years since I left your plane. I ex- 
pected to find Grod over here with a big stick wait- 
ing to judge me. I was so scared of death that I 
think I was scared to death. I tell you friends, I 
would have given a good deal to know as much as 
you do about death. One time about ten or fifteen 
years before I left the body I was sitting under a 
tree and I saw a spirit. I know now that I did see 
it, but for aftout a half hour I imagined that I saw 
it. I was thinking deeply, ''Now if there is some- 
thing after death, what is it?" — when I heard my 
father speak to me and he said, "My boy, I am 
just the same as I always was, but I am trying to 
be better." Being an Irishman, I was scared and 
I didn't stop to argue with him either, but I never 
sat under that tree again. 

This knowledge has always been possible to man, 
but in his ignorance he has ignored it. Man has 



146 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

but to reach out for the knowledge and realize the 
possibility of getting knowledge from the spirit 
side of life, but prejudice, domination and igno^ 
ranee walked hand in hand into his mind before he 
ever got a chance to know anything else. 

As ages come and go God has always been above 
man's conception. Never as long as man lives in 
the material body, and for a long time thereafter 
will man know what GOD IS — God is not a man — 
not an object— but GOD IS. It is beyond my con- 
ception and yours. Good night. 



Many things are written of the life over here, 
and how much of this is proven, save the messages 
received from the intelligences who have proved 
their identity to man? There may be dream 
thoughts of the world over there ; there may be vol- 
umes presented to you as visions of the other side, 
but as to absolute proof of the conditions of the 
homes over here, this can only be given to you from 
the souls who return who have experienced death 
and in their return prove to you their identity. 

So we will tell you something of the things 
which have been brought thru from that world be- 
yond the grave, from those who have positively 
proven their identity and then conveyed the knowl- 
edge, giving to man in the flesh more than a vision 
of the home over here, and presenting to you the 
views which they have found in their experiences 
after death. 

What is more convincing than to hear from those 
whom you love and whom you know to be absolute- 
ly truthful, presenting to you their experiences? 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT . 147 

Is this not a stronger proof than something which 
has been passed down thru many, many ages and 
changed as much and as often as the minds of men 
have changed? 

So we will speak of the things which have been 
written of communication received from the world 
beyond and from which people have turned away in 
disgust because the description of the world over 
there and the lives and the homes were so similar 
to that upon the earth plane that they could not im- 
agine it to be so. 

Let me tell you that every day of your lives in 
the flesh you are building the home of your soul; 
every day you walk in the flesh, you think in the 
flesh, and every moment of your flesh existence you 
are constructing and building the home of your 
soul into which you must go, and in which you must 
live. How many of you stop to think of this as you 
wrong your fallow-man? How many of you have 
considered this when you hate your neighbor ; when 
in a spirit of selfishness you have drawn to your- 
self the things belonging to your brother ? 

Now all these things are a part of the home in 
which you will live ; these conditions are in the home 
of the soul. No other man can build for you this 
home, for you will step into your own environ- 
ments. Your environment, your heaven, or your 
hell, is about you every moment of your lives — 
you are building it, making it in your everyday life. 

Now, if you build your hell about you thru sel- 
fishness, hate, jealousies and destructive thoughts, 
you will have it and you will live in it; you may 
live and sing and dance in that false happiness — 



148 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

but, why, the bliss of heaven is peace of mind. It 
is contentment — and in the feelings built about you 
thru false thoughts, thru jealousies and hate, how 
can you feel other than a false happiness? 

So when man comes to the realization that he 
cannot sin; he cannot hate; cannot throw out and 
constantly force into expression destructive 
thought without finding awaiting him all these con- 
ditions in that home over there, do you not think 
he will strive to build a home of happiness and 
peace of mind to live in over there? 

Those who are bitterly attacking the great law of 
spirit communion, forbidding investigation and 
such, have said that all souls who return say they 
are happy — but he who makes this statement must 
seek further, for all souls who return do not say 
they are happy. There are souls who say, "I am 
learning the bitter lessons of life; I am seeing the 
returns of my wrong doing; my soul is bathed in 
remorse; I am rising by great effort into a clear 
conception of things." 

Then there are souls who return and say, "I am 
intensely happy," or, "I am, oh, so happy" — but, 
look back into their lives and you will see why they 
are so happy. Certainly, they are happy, for was 
not their homes built during the flesh expression 
by unselfishness and love and service? Did they 
hate their neighbor? Did they rob their neighbor? 
not of material things — but there are many things of 
which you may rob your neighbor other than ma- 
terial things. Many times you will rob him of 
happiness. If you know of something that will make 
your neighbor unhappy, does it make you happier 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 149 

to tell him and spoil his happiness? You rob him 
of his happiness — and all the little things which 
man in his selfishness forgets; all these things are 
stored up and they are yours; no other man wants 
them; no other man can take them, they are yours. 

So as man searches he. will find; as he investi- 
gates he will learn; as he learns he will begin to 
know, and 'tis knowing which gives to man that 
peace. For when man knows the price he must pay 
for all his thoughts and his deeds there will not be 
so much selfishness and domination; there will be 
more peace and harmony. 

Stop and think of eternity — endless — endless 
eternity. You cannot reach it in thought, it is end- 
less, for ever and ever and ever. Then what is the 
little time of the physical expression when com- 
pared to that? — every living one of you are in 
eternity today, and the little time of the flesh is the 
very smallest part of your life, but it makes the 
home of the soul until during your spiritual ex- 
pression you have perfected that home. 

Do you think that the Great God, the Great 
Source of ALL things good, the Creator, that which 
has brought into expression everything, would pick 
out of your little time of the flesh some few parti- 
cular souls who will attain immortality? Oh, 
friends, live with this thought: that God is GOOD, 
God is holy, God is mercy, God is justice, God is 
ALL GOOD, and never created a thing which was 
evil. The spirit of God is within you, without you, 
everywhere is God. Then why work here with the 
selfish thought that because another has not the 
same interpretation of God's word he is doomed to 



150 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

eternal punishment ? The Great God of the universe 
knows all things ; why you are as you are ; why you 
are tempted as you are to do the things you do; 
knows why your little hell is growing about you; 
knows why you must have that lesson, and that be- 
cause you built your little hell you must burn thru 
the flame of remorse — but He would not cast you 
into that for all eternity. 

Blind man, open the eyes of spirit and look into 
the great fountain of life and then you will see that 
God would not cast any man into eternal punish- 
ment — NO! 

But the minds of men in their limited state before 
they have broken away from the bounds of other 
minds have been made blind to the wondrous, glori- 
ous power of the Godhead. The little hell you build 
about you will cause you the torment mentally until 
it burns out all the impurities within the soul of you 
— burns them out by service to your fellow-man. 

If you have caused some one to sin, if you have 
caused discontent, if you have caused one man to 
take another life, if you have caused all the de- 
structive thoughts it is possible for one mind to do, 
then do you believe that you can upon the very last 
hour in the flesh attain happiness, because you are 
sorry, you are intensely contrite because you know 
that you have done wrong? Oh, look behind you 
and see what you have done. Now, do you think 
that you can attain happiness and create with that 
one little thought a perfect home of the soul? Oh, 
no, the law of compensation is a part of life and a 
part from which you can never sway. It is a part 
of you, lives with you, a part of the great law of 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 151 

life; and not a wrong you have done but that you 
will pay the penalty for it — and not a good you have 
done but that you will feel the reflection of the hap- 
niness it sends. 

Therefore, the home of the soul is of your own 
construction. 

And so your little home is builded by yourself. 
The home of the mother who is devoted, has sacri- 
ficed and loved, will show all the beautiful things; 
she will find returns of love everywhere. Thru the 
great source of love, unselfish, untainted love — not 
lust, but love — the tenderest quality within a man, a 
reflection of the great Godhead, when thru that line 
the door is opened to communion, the spirit world 
returns full of it, and positive proof of the home 
of the soul is brought by those who return to tell 
you. 

Oh, friends, let us unite in service, and let us clean 
house; let us clean our soul's home of all the dis- 
orders and all the conditions which we would not 
like to have there, because there is nothing hidden 
from the spirit. Therefore, begin today to clean 
house and make your soul's home an abode into 
which you will step gladly, and then you can return 
and truthfully say, "I am happy; my home is beau- 
tiful." 



Every thought you send out is a living thing, is 
a reality. And some time you will come into a real- 
ization and will know in what realm your thoughts 
live. And. you will realize the effects of the con- 
ditions you have builded thru the wondrous power 
of thought which was and is yours. 



152 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

The old thought that man could live as he pleased 
and in the closing day of his mortal life, by giving 
forth a prayer to some imaginary selfish and re- 
vengeful God he could glide between the golden 
gates of happiness — how many thinking men and 
women believe this today? How many are here 
tonight who realize they must and shall and will 
bring into expression their very best selves. Every 
one of you know that you must build your own 
heaven — and this heaven can be builded only thru 
the spiritual thought force of man. If you choose to 
build physical, material conditions about you, what 
sort of heaven will you have when you leave the 
physical and material life? Some time you will 
have to leave the material things and ascend into — 
what? Into the home that you have builded thru 
your spiritual thought force. 

Are you building that home today? Or are you 
waiting until the eleventh hour? 

Is your life building about you a spiritual home? 
Is it building about you a soul which will live al- 
ways in the light, and illuminate the pathway of all 
men with whom it comes in contact? Is your life a 
strong reflection of the God Spirit which lives with- 
in you? Or is it a dismal light, a dark, dismal home 
that you are building about you? 

There is in man's lifetime here, even as the spirit 
walks in the flesh body, the law of progression. It 
is a part of your soul's life, and you will meet over 
and over only those things which your mortal life 
has placed in the way of its progression. Then let 
us strive to do always those things which are good, 
those things which are true. Now is the time, not 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 153 

tomorrow. Why not prepare for this wonderful 
home over there by serving mankind now? Why- 
wait until you reach that home over there? So 
many hold this wrong impression. They delay, 
they wait in idleness. 

Now as man becomes spiritually enlightened and 
begins to unfold, to bring outward and spread forth 
the God part of himself, the spirit 'and then his 
soul, he is building the spiritual things for himself 
and making conditions which will bring good re- 
turns ; for every thought and every deed and every- 
thing you send out into the world builds its own 
condition and returns to those who sent it forth; 
returns multiplied to the mind which first sent it 
into expression. As man sends forth all his 
thoughts and all his deeds — everything he sends 
forth — were he deceiving or were he loving, were 
he hating or were he serving, all these must re- 
turn to him. They do not return so that he recog- 
nizes them, but he meets obstacles which are of 
their building. He meets with conditions — if it 
were deception that he practiced, he will find that. 
As you live, you will come to something you en- 
deavor to build and behold, it is not what it seemed 
to be — you are deceived. 

The memory of thoughts and deeds, reflections of 
everything you did return to you. 

Man ever and ever builds the conditions into 
which he steps. If he builds conditions which ex- 
press truth, he will get that, and if he builds upon 
falsehood — the more he has deceived, betrayed, 
stolen, wronged, the more he will have to meet and 
overcome. But if he begins to tear down in the 



154 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

physical, the less he will have to surmount over 
there. The man that builds and tears away as he 
builds when he sees the wrong, is building for him- 
self a home which will stand. Within his conscious- 
ness, silently working is the hand of destiny. 

We have learned, and we hope all men will know 
ere long that to live a life of selfishness, avarice, 
earthly thoughts, entirely physical thoughts and all 
of the lower vibration is to create an unhappy state 
for the soul in the next expression. You will know 
that the souls of such individuals are not as happy 
as the souls who have sacrificed themselves in serv- 
ice to their fellow-men. 

Man is coming into the realization of what death 
really is. It is merely a change in expression. 
Some will say it is a passing to the higher life, but 
it is not the higher life unless the home they have 
builded is spiritual. They pass into the realm of 
spirit to which they rightfully belong. If they 
have been criminals wilfully, if they have sinned, 
if they have wronged their fellow-men, if they have 
builded conditions entirely earthy, they cannot pass 
into a spiritual realm because their home is pre- 
pared, builded by them, by their daily lives, by 
their thoughts and by their deeds. 

Those who grow their souls in entirely physical 
thoughts, whose lives have been entirely material, 
what home will they find over there? What con- 
dition will they carry with them? Will they carry 
those temptations, those appetites, those desires 
with them? Most assuredly they will. Their char- 
acteristics stay with them until they have outgrown 
them thru service, until the consciousness has be- 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 155 

come illuminated, that they may burn out the im- 
purities. 

We do not wish to bring grief to those who have 
loved ones over there who have lived this kind of 
a life in the physical, but the sinner continues to 
live, he is in spiritual darkness until such time as 
he unfolds and develops his spiritual qualities 
which illuminate his consciousness and burn out 
the impurities — and this must be accomplished 
thru service. 

But there are no lost souls. Now, some will say 
that Spiritualists do not believe in a hell. They do; 
those who understand the laws, believe in hell. 
There are men in the flesh who are in hell today — - 
kindled by their own thoughts ; by their own deeds. 
Remorse is burning them, burning them — they are 
in hell. But he who loves, serves, sacrifices for his 
fellow-men kindles the glorious light of heaven 
within. Has it not been said, "Heaven is within 
you?" 

The teachings of Jesus were lost, but today tlie 
spiritual Jesus manifests all over the world, not 
in the flesh but thru the minds of men. They are 
all reaching out for something more than the 
things along the religious line which have been 
given to them. They are searching for something 
deeper, more perfect to them, proved scientifically, 
something which can be given to them which will 
cause them to think; to make each individual soul 
and its efforts mean something and accomplish 
something. 

Death is not such a terrible thing — it is one of 
God's beautiful laws, but men have been led to be- 



156 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

lieve the doctrines and to lean upon the hope or the 
faith that believing would save them. Dear broth- 
ers and sisters, 'tis your life that saves you. 

Was not this the message of Jesus as he walked in 
the flesh, ' ' Forgive your enemies ; love one another ; 
do unto others as you would have them do unto 
you. ' ' Did he tell them to sin all week and fall upon 
their knees and offer prayer one day a week? Did 
he tell them to falsify about their neighbors or to 
rob their fellow-men and at night fall upon their 
knees and be forgiven? Did he say merely to ask 
forgiveness? NO! He brought the message to 
them how to live, how to serve, how to reach and 
bring into expression the heaven within — the 
heaven within. Why, you build your own heaven. 
The sinner must atone. Every man must save his 
soul from destructive thought. He must toil and 
serve to right every wrong that he has done. Some- 
times it is thru ignorance that man sins, and yet 
thru the great natural law of compensation, their 
conditions come upon him just the same. He must 
pay his debts. 

If the mere believing of the things that some one 
tells you will take you to heaven, while some poor 
man who cannot see as you see, (cannot believe 
that the sacrificing of a flesh body would save any 
soul, yet all the time in every day of his life he is 
applying the message that Jesus brought to the 
earth), is doomed to eternal punishment — why did 
Jesus come? Now think — use the power to think 
which God gave you — do you think that the great 
God who is perfect understanding, perfect love, 
perfect justice, a perfect father, perfect, not a flaw, 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 157 

not a break, not a doubt, perfect, would send a 
soul to the earth that some of his children would 
kill the body of that soul, take it away, to save the 
ones who thousands of years after that believed 
that the blood of that body would save their souls, 
and that after death they would go to heaven? Do 
you believe that? Or do you believe that a just 
God, a perfect love, a perfect father would work 
his plan thru a course of refinement and that every 
soul would have his particular part to play? 

What is the sacrificing of a body, when you stop- 
to think of the millions of bodies that are constantly 
going back to mother earth — they are thru with 
them. But if they have not finished with them, 
why, that flesh life is incomplete, and so they are 
close to the earth, and so they walk with you and 
they talk with you — and would you have them see 
that you are not what you seem to be? 

During the terrible conflict millions of souls were 
forced from their physical bodies ; souls crying out 
for that unfinished life were close to the earth — walls 
fell — and man in the flesh was startled with the 
knowledge of life after death. Souls of men whose 
flesh bodies were gone returned and overwhelmed 
the men of the earth with, "We are not dead" — "It 
pays to live right — pays to do right." "Oh, it is 
the message of Jesus that counts ; it is the applica- 
tion of the things which Jesus taught you to do that 
counts ; it is not the sacrificing of His body. ' ' And 
so "over there" the souls are continually saying, 
"Help me to get back; help me to tell my mother; 
she thinks she must only believe; she dare not open 
the door to me for she would think she was talking 



158 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

to a demon. Help me to tell her it matters not what 
church you attend, nor what you believe; but it is 
what you do that counts. ' ' 

Friends, your heaven is just what you make it. 

You are building your future home — do you not 
wish to have it free from all debt when you reach 
the other shore? For there is no way to escape 
paying your honest debts there — you cannot go into 
bankruptcy — every account against you must be set- 
tled in full, with interest. 

You are just as much in eternity today as you 
will be there ; you are in eternity now ; you are just 
as much a spirit now as you ever will be ; you are a 
spirit. Why not feed and cultivate the spirit ? That 
is the everlasting part of you. Why spend all your 
time feeding the material, the part which you must 
cast aside? Why not prepare for that future life? 
Why not make your heaven right about you today? 
You can create a little heaven all your own, for your 
heaven is builded of just what you send out. 

Has it not been said that the kingdom of heaven is 
within you? — within you — perhaps it is all covered 
up by worldly things, material cares and worry, but 
it is there, and it is yours ; so find it — brush aside the 
dust and cobwebs, clear the darkened windows of 
your soul, open wide the door of your heart and let 
God's sunlight of truth in. 

Let the searchlight of truth illuminate the dark 
places of doubt and superstition; give the spirit 
within you a chance to grow and develop and unfold. 
How? By filling your heart with love for all man- 
kind, and by service to others. 

Heaven is your soul's home — you are building it 



HEAVEN IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT 159 

now; and when you step out of the physical body 
into the new astral body, the soul continues to live. 
What will your heaven be like f You are building it 
— so be careful what material you put into it. 

Lay the foundation with love, service, harmony, 
truth. Let your home be filled with windows studded 
with diamonds and precious jewels (kind deeds) 
which shine out in all their brilliancy as the sunlight 
of God 's love rests upon them. 

When you have finished the physical expression, 
will you go hence feeling that you have lived this life 
to the full, that you have run the race set before 
you, that you have kept the faith? 

As you slip out of the old worn out shell, may 
God's pure and holy angels, whom He hath given 
charge over you, bear you gently and tenderly away 
into that heaven which you have builded. May you 
not be bound to the earth plane because of the work 
left unfinished, but bound only by the tie of love. 
May you feel free to rise into the higher realms of 
spirit where dwell the pure and holy; and come back 
to the earth plane only because you want to serve 
and help others to see the light and to show them 
the way along God's great and glorious highway of 
truth. 



CHAPTER V. 

WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN 
GONE BEFORE? 



This chapter is written for the countless mothers whose 
little ones have slipped away into the land of silence. It is an 
answer to the many many cries that have broken from torn 
and bleeding hearts — "Oh! where is my baby? What has be- 
come of the little soul that staid with us for so short a time? 
So helpless and dependent upon me for every little thing; who 
is taking care of my baby now? Oh! if I could only know!" 

Some went out before they had learned to lisp the name of 
"mother"; others staid a little longer, and still others lingered 
until even the neighbors had learned to loved them, so sweet 
and endearing were they in all their little ways. 

Oh, mothers, HOW much suffering you could escape if you 
only knew or had the assurance that pure and holy angels are 
caring for your babies, and that they are growing up in spirit 
land, and some time, somewhere, in God's own good time, you 
will meet them again — you will know, and you will be known 
by your little children gone before. 



(A trance lecture delivered thru Mrs. Brace in May, 
1920.) 



How many times the lonely and aching heart of 
the mother asks, "Is my baby lonesome? Does my 
little one want me?" And so it is to bring balm to 
the heart of that mother that we speak to you here 
of the babes and the little children gone before. 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 161 

The little ones who knew no wrong; who loved 
their very own and no other; who knew their own 
home environments and none other; suddenly are 
snatched from their home into a new expression — 
what of them? How many times the sorrowing souls 
of those whose weary bodies lying at night upon 
their pillows have wondered what of their little ones 
who have gone — so let us talk now of this. It is not 
a deep thought, but oh, it is a beautiful one. 

When the soul of the babe has been drawn away 
from the little shell, that little temple of the physical 
expression, and to your vision there remains noth- 
ing but that little piece of clay; you love it as you 
would love the garments worn by your loved ones — 
where is that something you loved with a deeper un- 
dying love? It is gone only so far as the physical 
senses are concerned. The little soul is still close 
to those who love it, close to those whom it loves; 
for the little babe does not leave the home so readily 
or so quickly as does the older souls after having a 
longer expression on the physical plane. And there- 
fore not having builded clearly a condition into which 
by a natural process they pass, the babe clings close 
to that mother and father and the ones it loves — no 
one can deny this. 

The old-time teaching which made the mother be- 
lieve that her little one was carried into a holy land 
where it was impossible for her to go, was a cruel 
thought to imbue into a mother's soul; but today 
mankind has reached a higher stage of unfoldment, 
and is being tuned to a higher rate of vibration 
where he can reach away from the earth plane, and 



162 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

has found that those who have left their physical 
bodies can and do come back. 

The babe will come and speak more readily to 
those whom it loved in this life right in its own home, 
right in the home environments. So is this not an 
inspiration to live a pure spiritual life? For the 
understanding of the little ones will rapidly unfold 
and develop; their spiritual powers quickly awaken 
and they see thru the eyes of understanding, and 
they will know you as you are. 

When the angel of death enters your home and 
takes the little one out from your family circle, phys- 
ically, does it not inspire you to a better life, to ex- 
press yourself truthfully and spiritually? Does it 
not inspire within your consciousness sympathy and 
love? If not, it is because the blindness of the physi- 
cal has so enveloped you that the spirit within you 
cannot penetrate this other life, telling you that the 
little child has not gone from your home. 

The question is often asked, "What of the little 
ones who are born into the flesh and live but a very 
short time, perhaps a moment or two, without having 
had any experience in the flesh; do they live in 
spirit?" They do live, close to that mother and 
gather all the conditions about her into themselves. 
There must be some experience upon the earth plane 
if they are once born into the flesh expression. And 
so until there has been gathered into their conscious- 
ness some of the experiences upon the earth plane by 
that mother and that father and those of that family 
who are closely allied by the tie of love, they live 
there for a time — but do not think that they are 
lonely. 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 163 

Preceding the passing away of one of your little 
ones, those who are closest to you in love in the 
spirit world are drawn to you by the love tie and ex-, 
press it by way of sympathy in your great distress ; 
the feeling within your consciousness of sorrow 
brings them close to you, and those who loved you 
love your little ones ; they clasp them close to their 
bosom and give them their loving care. 

Now let me tell you something of the messages 
coming back from the little ones who have passed 
away. One comes back to speak and the mother asks, 
"Where are you, dear, and who has you; are they 
kind to you there?" And the little soul answers 
back, "I am with such a pretty lady; she does so 
much for me ; she loves me and she teaches me how 
to love ; she shows me what a pretty mamma I have ; 
and she shows me how much you love and brings me 
so near to you that, mamma, I know your soul, and 
I know how you love me." 

Another little one returns and says, ' ' Oh, mamma, 
I am not dead. I just had to come here so that you 
could find God." Still another returns and says, 
"Mamma, tell papa I want him to know that I did 
not die; and I am so happy — we play, we sing and 
we dance over here." Yes, they dance with the 
graceful happiness of a child ; they express harmony 
and love and happiness in their own childish way; 
and they play with all the simple purity of a little 
child's soul. 

You will oft times hear a little child in its play 
talk to what you call an imaginary companion — oh, 
if you could only see the little souls that are in a 
higher rate of vibration, you would know that it was 



164 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

not imagination on the part of that child, but it was 
the little soul who in the play was attracted to them, 
for they can play without the physical body. What 
has the body to do with the play of the little child? 
"lis merely the instrument — and the eyes of the 
child can see things which the eyes of man cannot 
see. After you have passed thru childhood you are 
concerned more with material things and you worry 
as to whether you will have the next month's rent 
ready or something to eat for them, and so you have 
builded about you the condition which the spirit finds 
difficult! to penetrate; but the little child knows 
naught of this and the little minds are more recep- 
tive to spiritual things. When the little child is talk- 
ing to an ' * imaginary playmate ' ' and you say to the 
child, ' ' You do not see any one ; there is no one play- 
ing with you," you are wronging that child because 
you are suggesting to it that which is untrue, and 
you are giving the child the inspiration to speak un- 
truth — tho you little know this. 

Now we will speak of the little child whose physi- 
cal body was so deficient because of unnatural birth 
it could not manifest as other children, unable to 
speak, to walk or play as other children in the flesh. 
It is the spirit which is manifesting; that body was 
only the instrument ; and all the experiences are re- 
corded within the consciousness of that individual 
soul just as perfectly as it is upon the soul of those 
bodies Who are physically perfect; it is just as 
clearly there as are the experiences upon the souls 
of those whose bodies are perfect, but they cannot 
bring it forth to express it because of the imperfect 
instrument, yet it is there ; and all the kind thoughts 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 165 

you have sent to that child, all the things you have 
done for it; all the kindness and otherwise that has 
been given to that child, it has recorded upon the 
consciousness of it just as vividly and just as 
clearly; and the spirit of understanding, the spirit 
within, that which we call the Godspark is just as 
perfect within that imperfect instrument as it is 
within any one whose body is perfect. But the diffi- 
culty in returning to manifest is this : They never 
have spoken in the flesh, but they can send a clear 
message from their consciousness, clearly and per- 
fectly formed, into the consciousness of an instru- 
ment and convey it to the parents thru a clairvoyant 
or trance medium. But to speak independently of 
any physical instrument, to speak as many of you 
have heard the independent voice builded upon the 
sound waves, the message coming from that little 
mind would not be conveyed to you so clearly, but 
you would find each word formed perfectly, as if it 
were formulating the words, following the direction 
of a tutor or one who is aiding in the placing of the 
thought in that form. 

After the incompleteness of the physical body is 
gone back to earth and the soul of the child who has 
been so handicapped by all those physical conditions 
is free it is more rapidly unfolded and developed be- 
cause pent up and unable to respond were the won- 
drous experiences gathering into themselves all the 
time, but because of the imperfect instrument there 
was no physical action to send them out, but soul- 
fully and spiritually they do manifest. It may be a 
comfort to some of you to know this ; that the soul 
of the child whose body is imperfect is perfectly free 



166 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

and develops and grows and unfolds and expresses 
intelligence upon its return to the earth plane. 

I will answer another question here. "Do those 
little ones who pass away before having ever spoken 
in the flesh ever learn to speak?" As there is no 
spoken language of the soul, why must they learn to 
speak? There is no reason why they must learn to 
speak, but if they have a desire to return to their 
loved ones who receive and give their message thru 
speaking and hearing, they will learn, and as they 
come close to you and get in touch with your every- 
day life they will learn to speak and express their 
thoughts as you do, that they may return and speak 
to you. But you will notice that the child out of the 
flesh who returns thus to speak will speak perfect 
English, or the language thru which they express 
themselves will be perfectly spoken ; there will be no 
flaw in their speech as there is in the little ones who 
have learned to talk in the flesh and come back to you 
and speak to you in their own, what you call, baby 
talk; but this is only for a short time; they hold their 
individuality and they stay near you until they have 
grown to a more independent state of unfoldment, 
then they are taken to those who have studied child- 
hood and have ability to impart their knowledge to 
the child ; they are taken into different fields of learn- 
ing. 

Now, some will say, ' ' This is a great fairy tale, ' ' 
but let me tell you after you have come in touch with 
the world of spirit spending two-thirds of your life 
with souls of men whose bodies are gone back to 
earth, you will know something of this ; you will not 
have to impart to your loved ones just imaginary 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 167 

dreams, you will tell them some facts which you have 
gathered, and this I am telling you. 

Little ones come back and in their endeavor to 
soothe you in your great grief will make a great ef- 
fort to speak. And every little thought you send out 
to them is received by them — and oh, if you did but 
know what it really means to you to have the soul 
of one in the other world whom you have loved, and 
thru whom they have been brought into a physical 
expression — that you were the instrument thru 
which the soul was brought into expression that it 
might manifest upon the earth plane- — how much 
more would you regard parentage as a beautiful and 
holy thing. 

When the little ones were gone some mothers tried 
to forget, gave them up entirely, tried to forget the 
love they had for them, but the little one was still 
there, and tho the mother could not hear, that little 
soul was saying, "Mother, I am not dead; I love you 
still." And there was something within that moth- 
er's heart which awakened and reached out to some- 
where she knew not what, for she felt that there was 
something more than just that little flesh body that 
had gone back to earth. 

Knowledge awakens, but wisdom reveals — knowl- 
edge is acquired, gathered from the surface thru ex- 
periences and lessons applied by other minds, but 
ivisdom is a manifestation of the spirit within. That 
is why the child, when it is free from the physical 
body after having a very short experience upon the 
earth plane, will develop rapidly and the wisdom 
within reveals and grows until thru the eyes of un- 
derstanding that child is wiser than the older ones 



168 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

for, "The little child shall lead them" because it is 
receptive to spiritual things and unencumbered by 
physical and material thoughts. 

If you have builded love all about your little ones, 
they will pass into a field of love. But what of the 
little orphans whom some of you forget that they, 
too, are souls, and do abuse. Let me tell you some- 
thing which in my experience I have learned and 
thru investigation I know to be true. 

A woman, never having been a mother, joined an 
order which prevented her becoming a mother, be- 
came the superintendent (it was not the name she 
was called, but we will call it that) of an orphan asy- 
lum where great numbers of little children were 
under her care. She wore the garments of a highly 
developed soul while in the physical — she is in the 
spiritual expression now and desires to have this 
confession come thru that some may know she is 
very, very sorry for what she did while in charge of 
those little children. She abused the physical body 
of the little ones in her care when they did not learn 
the things she wanted them to learn pertaining to the 
one particular doctrine — if they did not memorize 
every word of that copy, they received bodily torture 
from the hands of that woman, who in the ignorance 
of the laws of life forgot that God governs all things 
thru love. She abused the motherless children and 
then prayed and prayed for forgiveness in other 
things — not even thinking that this was a sin. 

Now three of those children have passed into the 
other life, that is three with whom I have come in 
contact, and they are very close to her and helping 
her ' to rise out of the terrible condition she has 



WHO TAKES CAKE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 169 

builded about her. Is she entirely to blame for this, 
or are the minds who dominated back of it also to 
blame, and will they not suffer for their share in it? 
True, she receives the returns of what she sent out 
into the world of expression — all that she did is hers ; 
but it was the expression of a life expressing itself 
entirely the opposite from the real desire within a 
soul. 

The reason I bring this lesson to you is that you 
may know that it is not well to abuse any other man's 
children more than you would your own. A spirit of 
selfishness causes man to look for the imperfections 
in the child of his fellow-man, and he forgets to 
search within his own to find some of his own quality 
manifesting there. This causes many children after 
leaving the flesh to return and tell their parents of 
weaknesses within them. A little soul returns and 
says, "Mamma, don't be cross with brother, or don't 
be cross with (speaking the name) ; be kind, or, don't 
be angry with papa." The reason that child picks 
out that particular thing to say is because there is a 
reflection of that upon the soul so strongly that there 
is a tendency in that child to do evil tho the flesh 
body is gone. 

So until man learns more of the laws of life, little 
ones will remain close to the earth, close to men in 
their everyday life ; and all your characteristics re- 
flect themselves upon all who are about you, and es- 
pecially upon your child whom you love and who 
loves you. The little ones manifesting close to the 
earth plane are drawn there by love. 

The souls of those who abuse the physical body of 
the little ones cause them to hate, when perhaps the 



170 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

hate thought would never be there, and causes them 
to feel that some time they will abuse something. 
The lesson we desire to convey is this: Bring the 
good out of the children and cultivate the tendency 
within them to good. If the soul of a child is in- 
spired to do one thing, study that child and the tend- 
ency within and let the little children express them- 
selves purely and spiritually; but do not fill their 
minds up with some particular creed or doctrine 
which presents for you a pet thought and which has 
been handed down thru generations. The child is 
receptive to it and later in life finds many obstacles 
which have been brought from the outside rather 
than from within. 

Educate the children that they may develop spir- 
itually, that they may develop all the finer qualities 
within them ; and you may find within the conscious- 
ness of some of your children a wonderful school ; 
you may find within your own child a messenger 
from the great universe, bringing to you great possi- 
bilities. 

Children of the coming generation are going to 
have very strong intuitive powers, many are going 
to be of higher and finer character, higher vibration, 
more in touch with the unseen. You may say they 
are imaginative — they may weave wonderful stories, 
but study their stories, and thru the chifd learn ; for 
indeed, "The little child shall lead them." 

When the angel of death comes into your home and 
takes from you one of your little ones ; oh, brothers 
and sisters, how many times it is the opening of the 
gates to the higher life? How many of you have 
passed out of the material into the beautiful and 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 171 

spiritual because a little child has opened the door 
to the spiritual world? And when you find your 
baby, what happiness to know that there is some- 
thing greater beyond, so you rise out of the narrow 
material life and live and be more spiritual. 

So those of you who have little ones over there, 
know that the eyes of understanding within reveal to 
them all your tendencies, and they see you and know 
you as you are and they will return and guide you — 
but do not think that because that child has passed 
thru death that it can return to you in the material 
and tell you how to buy or sell property. Their little 
souls are gathering to themselves spiritual things; 
they are still in the great school of experience but 
their experiences are very different from yours ex- 
cept in the reflection of your lives upon them. 

So never abuse a child's physical body because 
that child cannot see as you do ; the child may be in 
an entirely different vibration from you, for there 
is a flesh kinship and there is still a greater which 
is spiritual kinship. The soul of your child tho, thru 
the law of love will be with you, but it may not be 
of the same quality as you, and there may be quali- 
ties within the soul of that child which will find 
companionship in some one who is entirely different 
from you. So bring out the individuality of the 
children — if they show tendencies one way or an- 
other, cultivate them along that line for good. If 
they are strong-willed, do not try to bind them too 
tightly but direct that strong will into a channel 
which will accomplish good. If they show a tendency 
to any particular kind of work, guide them into that 



172 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

properly and do not force them into something for 
which they are not fitted. 

Educate the children; begin with the infant to 
teach them the secrets yon have hidden from their 
youth — tell them the truth. Purify their lives on the 
mortal plane and thru the spirit all mankind in all 
walks of life shall find the things for which he hun- 
gers — the health for which a soul cries. 

In all their development and unfoldment up to the 
present time the greater number have had no oppor- 
tunity to bring put an expression of their own indi- 
viduality. They have been guided by dominating 
minds, and so far as religion or spiritual things were 
concerned, they were to go according to the minds of 
those who ruled them. 

Your little ones when passing on into the next ex- 
pression are taken in the arms of some one who loves 
them and loves you ; and when they have found out 
how to use their little new body they are with you 
and they love you and they will guide you. They 
are ever and ever near you, not away off in some 
place grieving for you, or forgetting you, for the 
love kindled here lives on and on ; so let us love the 
little children in the flesh — and those of you who 
have no children of your own, do you know that 
there are children who have no home and who are 
being abused? Take them into your home and bring 
out the good within them — for the little soul who 
has been aided in its expression on earth kindles the 
love that never dies. 

So let us unite in the great thought (not in the 
belief, but in the knowledge) that our little ones live 
in love and come to see us. They sing and they dance 



WHO TAKES CAEE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 173 

and they play and are happy and express themselves 
in all their own little childish ways ; and there is no 
individual mind going to bend or spoil their individu- 
ality. The little children are studying and growing, 
and building their soul's home "over there." 

Let us unite in the great thought of love, for we 
are all brothers and sisters ; and all the different ex- 
pressions of religion, the individuals in the ranks 
are trying to reach the same God. Justice is under- 
standing; it reveals to men why things are as they 
are ; why the individual is as he is ; reveals to him the 
hidden law; reveals to him that it is the same God 
of justice, the same God of love, the same God of 
good, the same God of power which manifests over 
them all — oh, it is the same God we are all seeking 
and reaching out to find, so let us unite in our search 
— aye, the little child shall lead them. 

The little children grow over there but they do not 
grow as the things before your physical eye, do not 
grow big as in the material, but they grow big of 
mind and big of soul, and closer to the perfect ex- 
pression they develop, and all they learn is spiritual 
and good — the lessons they learn are perfect. Lit- 
tle ones who have never spoken in the flesh will re- 
turn to speak and you will note in their messages 
that the language they use is perfect, not a flaw. But 
the little children who pass away after they have 
partly learned to talk will for a time hold a strong 
memory of the earth expression and when they re- 
turn will speak in the baby terms as was known to 
them. At first they will use their own simple way 
of speaking but gradually they will learn more and 
more, and you will note upon repeated manifestation 



174 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

there is a gradual improvement in their language 
and the method of conveying to you their thoughts. 
You will note the very rapid progress or unfoldment 
of the little child who is growing up in spirit land. 

You will also note that every message brought to 
man in the flesh by the child spirit will hold more of 
a lesson in its simple way than the lessons brought 
by older minds, or minds developed upon the earth 
in the physical expression. 

Souls born into the flesh sometimes have but a 
short time to finish their experience in the flesh, they 
must have just a little more experience and then they 
pass into the new life thru which they can freely ex- 
press themselves. They return for a very short time 
in the flesh that they might pass thru the experience 
of being born into the flesh, and then pass to the spir- 
itual there to express themselves as guides and 
guardian angels, and light the little spark of truth 
— with little whispers of love they come into your 
consciousness when you are tempted sorely to do 
wrong. How many of you have not felt sometimes 
when temptations come, when you had been tempted 
to do a certain thing, when suddenly there speaks 
within you something which tells you not to do it ? 

The little souls return very shortly and work into 
your vibration and speak to you — not in words con- 
veyed to your consciousness thru the physical sense, 
but thru the spiritual sense, you know it. 

The little body born into the physical sometimes 
because of its imperfect condition is quickly drawn 
back to earth ; then that little soul has had no physi- 
cal expression and its home is within the love 
thought; the little babe lives close to its parents — 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 175 

so does not this inspire you to do good? Would you 
let your little one see you sin? Would you let your 
little ones learn the effect of wrong thoughts'? 



The following messages, coming from the little ones them- 
selves, will bear out the truth of the statements made by the 
spirit teacher as given in this chapter. Many people have heard 
these little souls give their sweet messages from time to time 
and will acknowledge the accuracy of this report. 



A baby boy, Francis, nearly two years old, was 
taken from a home of tenderest love and care; his 
two grandmothers thought there never was another 
such child — the home was in darkness and gloom be- 
cause the little voice was still, and there was no more 
pattering of little feet — oh, what an aching silence. 
Can you imagine the feelings of those sorrowful 
hearts when they heard again the baby voice at the 
message circle? The little one kept saying, "Baby 
here — baby here — baby here." Some one asked, 
"Whose baby are you, dear?" And the answer 
came, "Papa baby, mamma baby, gagga baby, 
gammy baby." This was repeated several times. 
That was the way he had to distinguish his two 
grandmothers; one was gagga and the other was 
gammy. Of course, he was recognized at once ; and 
a great comfort comes to more than his immediate 
family, for all who hear the sweet messages of this 
angel baby are filled with love and tenderness. In 
each message he seems to have learned new words. 

One time he said, "Mamma bwake (broke) Teddy 
eye — poor Teddy, mamma fix." That day while 
dusting, the mother had knocked his Teddy Bear 
from his little high chair and one of the eyes came 



176 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

out, and the baby in spirit saw her put it back in 
place again. 

At another circle a part of his message was, 
1 ' Papa go fast — gammy scare — baby no scare. ' ' His 
papa had been out in the country and had driven so 
fast that the grandmother was frightened. "Papa 
run fast — can't catch bunny." This same day the 
father had gone hunting with a friend and had tried 
to catch a rabbit. 

These are just parts of a few of the baby mes- 
sages and are given to show that the little ones do 
stay close to their parents and those who were in 
their little home life; that they see and know what 
the loved ones are doing, and enter into the home 
life of the physical expression. 



One evening a little child came into the circle and 
called, "Mother." Some one asked, "Who are you, 
dear ? ' ' and the answer came, "lam Doris. ' ' While 
wondering who Doris might be, her own little girl in 
spirit spoke and said, "Oh, mamma, I want you to 
be little Doris' mother, too. She is a little girl I 
found over here, and she didn't have any earth 
mother to love her, so I told her that you would be 
her mother and love her just like you love me." 
Then in her own childish way she told how happy 
she was with this little girl for a playmate, and how 
she was around her daddy and mamma, and kissed 
her little brother — pleaded with her mother not to 
cry as she wasn 't sick any more. 

The mother wondered afterwards who little Doris 
was, and so when she went to another circle and her 
little girl came, she asked her why she wanted her to 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 177 

be a mother to Doris, and why did this strange child 
come to her, so the little child explained. "I love 
her so much, mamma, she led me all the way, and 
she brought me across, and leads me everywhere and 
helps me and shows me what to do — she did all the 
time I was there on earth, too ; she was my guardian 
angel, and I want you to be her mamma, too, because 
you love so much and I want you to love her like you 
love me because she never had a chance to live on 
earth, she came over here when she was so tiny, and 
Dobody cared so she stayed at our house when I was 
there with you and she loves you just like I do." 
And the mother said, ' ' Oh, I will love the dear little 
soul. Do you think you will be a guardian angel, 
dear?" "Not yet, mamma, I want to be near you 
because I love you and my daddy and brother — kiss 
daddy and brother for me. Good bye." 



A little girl of twelve years had diphtheria and 
passed out. Her messages given at the children's 
circles held many wonderful lessons and helped her 
cousins and the others who attended to be more kind 
and thoughtful of others. She told them that there 
was only a thin veil between them and her, and she 
thought in time that the veil would be lifted. "Do 
you know why the veil is there?" she asked one of 
her little cousins. "It is because of bad thoughts." 
And before she left she said, "Now let's all try real 
hard and see if we can't lift that veil by thinking only 
good thoughts." 

Another message held this wonderful lesson. "I 
go to school, too; we don't have books like you do, 
but we learn all about colors. Every thought has a 



178 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

certain kind of color and we learn to read thoughts 
by their color. We can go any place we want to, only 
if we want to go some place where it is not best for 
us an angel is always there to turn us back." A 
little time before this circle was held the little cous- 
ins had been having one of their childish quarrels, 
and during her conversation she pleaded with them 
to be kind to each other, "because," she said, "when 
you quarrel it is just like throwing stones at me. 
You wouldn 't throw stones at me, would you ? ' ' The 
little cousins were very much disturbed at this and 
promised not to quarrel any more. 



Another dear little soul which has shed sunshine 
and gladness upon so many hearts at the message 
circle, is that of a little girl who was called Joyce. 
She was an only child and when about eight years 
old was run over by an automobile and instantly 
killed. Soon after she came to the children's circles, 
as some who attended had been her playmates, and 
she would send some special word to her grief- 
stricken parents, and which were faithfully delivered 
by the children who were neighbors. One day she 
said to them, "Just think, my mamma is going to 
|ind God pretty soon now." The children thought 
she meant that her mother Was going to die and so 
did not dare tell her that part of the message. But 
it came out later that she meant her mother was 
coming to the circle and would find that her little girl 
had not gone away, and thru communication with 
her little child would find the ever-living presence 
of the true and loving Father. 

Her messages always hold some beautiful thought 



WHO TAKES CARE OP OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 179 

which causes older minds to seek the true light. On 
one occasion she was quite late coming to the circle 
and when her mother asked her why she was so long 
in coming, she answered, "Why, I was over home 
with papa, trying to make him feel better. He is 
sleeping now, so I hurried right over to talk to you. ' ' 
Another time she described how she felt when she 
came into the circle. "When I first come in here, 
mama, I feel just like I was all bundled up in a big 
overcoat ; I feel so weighted down, but after I stay a 
little while I begin to feel lighter and lighter until I 
just have to rise, I can't stay any longer." Another 
of her messages held this thought : "Why, mamma, 
what is that funny light around you? — oh, I know, 
that is the worry color — now, mamma, dear, you 
must not worry — worrying won't do any good. You 
know bad things just sink down into the earth, and 
the good things keep going up and up and never 
end." 

During one conversation her mother asked her 
what she would like to have done with her little ashes 
(they had cremated her body) and she said, "Oh, 
put it around a nice red rose bush, mamma." The 
father could not consent to this, so she said, "Why, 
papa, when you come over here, some one might 
throw them out in an old cabbage patch and that 
would be worse than putting them around a nice 
rose bush." Another time when her mother was 
talking with her about a trip they had on a street 
car, she said, "Yes, I went right along, too, and I 
didn't have to pay any carfare either." 

It seems strange to think that one can come to 
know and feel acquainted with an individual who 



180 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

has passed from the physical expression, but such 
is the case with little Joyce, for many have come to 
know this pure little soul whom they have never 
seen, and her bright and cheery little messages of 
love will long be remembered by all who have heard 
her speak words of joy and comfort to her parents. 
tSometimes, just to be sociable, she says, " Hello 
everybody. ' ' 



The following is a message from a little girl who 
lived in Rochester, New York, with her parents who 
were firm believers in spirit return, and is another 
proof that even tho a little soul has had no physical 
expression it still lives and is brought into under- 
standing in the unseen world which is close to and 
all around us. 

This little girl was stricken suddenly while at 
play ; several physicians were called but before they 
could come to an agreement in the diagnosis of the 
case, her little spirit passed out into the great un- 
known. Just one week after her little soul took its 
flight the grandmother who was devoted to the child 
attended a seance conducted by Mrs. Brace, and 
during the course of the evening a sweet little voice 
called, "Grandma, don't cry, I'm all right; I don't 
feel one bit bad now, only sorry — sorry for you and 
mamma and daddy. Tell mamma to put my things 
away and not cry for me, for I love you all just the 
same — and say, grandma, I found something over 
here, guess what it is." Grandma could not guess. 
"Why, it's a baby sister. I didn't know I ever had 
a sister ; did you, grandma f Just think of it, a baby 
sister all my very own. ' ' 



WHO TAKES CARE OF OUR CHILDREN GONE BEFORE 181 

Just about a year before this little child passed 
out, the mother gave birth to another, still born, 
which was unknown to the little child ; and it was a 
great surprise to her when she found the baby sister 
in spirit land. 



The fact that babies grow up in spirit land is am- 
ply proven by the messages received directly from 
the little ones who have passed out before they were 
able to talk. The following was received from a 
little one who had left the physical body at the age 
of two years when his vocabulary consisted of a very 
few words, such as papa, mamma, yes, no, and other 
little baby expressions. Were he still living in the 
flesh he would now be 18 years old. 

When he first came to the message circle he was 
brought by an older brother who had been drowned, 
and in giving his first little message he said, "I want 
to speak with my earth mother. ' ' This demonstrates 
clearly that our babies have angel mothers to take 
care of them in spirit land. On one occasion his 
message held this sweet thought: "I am with you 
when you pray, mother. Do you know why? It is 
because there is such a bright light around you." 
Another time when he was asked if he had grown 
up, he said, "lam big in my soul, big in my thoughts, 
but when I come back to talk to you I am still in my 
baby astral body." The last time he came to speak 
to his mother he called, ' ' Mamma, mamma. ' ' When 
asked why he did that he replied, "Well, I wanted 
to come in by myself this time, so I said mamma. ' ' 
During his conversation he asked his mother if she 
had heard the celestial music. His mother asked 



182 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

him if he meant in her dreams, and he said, "Yes, I 
was so in hopes you would carry back a memory of 
that celestial music because I was a part of it." 
Later on the elder brother in spirit land explained 
that "our baby" is now on the plane of music and 
he was so anxious to have his mother hear him. 



We will close the chapter with a message received 
from a little child who was unknown to any of the 
children in the circle, and who came in out of curi- 
osity. When asked if she knew any one there, she 
said, "Why, do I have to know somebody? I just 
thought I would look in to see what you are doing. ' ' 
Here she chuckled to herself and said, "It's a funny 
thing, but you know I went to my own funeral. They 
thought they put me in the grave, but I didn't stay 
there ; I went right back home with mamma. Poor 
mamma, she cries so much she can't see me. I wish 
you would tell her not to cry, I am right at home with 
her." 



Oh, if all sorrowing mothers could only realize 
that God does not take away their children — that 
they are still with them! . 

When this great "Descending Light" breaks in 
upon all souls there will be no such word as "dead" 
for all will realize that life is continuous, and there 
is no death. 



CHAPTER VI. 
PROTECTIVE FORCES. 

Gleanings from Trance Lectures. 



Spirit Communion is growing, and right in its 
growth, as are all things of the spirit, hut let me tell 
you this : Hold yourselves within the great protec- 
tive cloak of TRUTH because the great world upon 
which you live and are expressing is swarming with 
souls whose bodies are gone, cast away by the hand 
of man; prematurely born "into that new life as a 
babe is born prematurely into the flesh. These souls 
are not ready to express themselves on the astral 
plane, so they return and you must aid them to a 
knowledge of spirit ; for they have gone into a new 
life before their time — the vehicle in which they 
manifested has been destroyed by man, and they 
must learn how to use the new body. 

It is well that man learns more and more of the 
laws of spirit return, not only the fact, but investi- 
gate the laws and learn them ; make them a part of 
himself thus preventing much insanity and obses- 
sion. Know that the world will be overwhelmed with 
spirits returning, perhaps with vengeance, perhaps 
with hate, perhaps so homesick; perhaps with a 
craving for another man's blood — for they carry 
back the last thought they took with them. They 
will return desiring to have a flesh body thru which 



184 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

to manifest; so beware of this, send them ever and 
ever that thought which will make the spiritual con- 
dition which is necessary for them to have to prop- 
erly pass along into their spiritual growth. 

Do not go into spirit communion until you pre- 
pare yourself mentally and spiritually for it because 
it is more than a dangerous thing to do, for if the 
good return, so can tlw evil; the same rain falls upon 
the murderer and upon the good Samaritan; the 
same sun shines upon all and the same law governs 
all alike. Therefore, make the conditions which 
will invite to you the enlightened spirit, and thru 
that you will bring your loved ones to you in the pro- 
tective light of spirit ; for when you search for spirit 
manifestation in truth and spiritual thought, you 
have found the key which unlocks the door between, 
and there you will find your loved ones. 

These are the things which we desire to imbue into 
your consciousness that they may become a part of 
you. Spirit return is a fact, but do not reach into 
that lower realm and ask aid, but reach out into the 
higher light and they will aid you to grow in spirit- 
ual things, and then you will be able to help your 
loved ones to progress. Commune thru your con- 
sciousness ; it is not necessary to go to a public me- 
dium. It is true that perhaps a public medium may 
break the way for you because you are lost in the 
desert and cannot find your loved ones ; but in your 
consciousness, in the spiritual light of your own soul, 
in the silent thought of spirit when you resolve to 
injure no man, to live as nearly a perfect life as you 
can, to send out only that which is good, then call 
your loved ones and in the sacred silence of your 



PEOTECTIVE FOBCES 185 

soul 's home you will hear from them — it may uot be 
the spokeu word nor the touch that your flesh can 
feel, but in your soul you will know that they are 
present, and in time if you continue to lift your 
thought, you will find that you can reach them. 



Do not sit for development unless you are positive 
that you understand hoiu to hold your protective 
thought. It is not the spoken word, but' it is the 
thought in its fullness which the words express. Let 
truth be your ivatch/ivord, harmony your hey, love 
and charity your stepping stones. Harmony means 
at peace with all. Now, with your watchword turn 
into the investigative field and step into the light of 
spiritual development upon the steps of love and 
charity, and then lean upon your staff, your stand- 
ard of morality, your standard of all good, but re- 
member to hold these thoughts about you. 

You never can rise by searching in the lower 
realms of spirit manifestation. You cannot find the 
truth — it is not there. Because while the spirits 
who infest the lower plane of thought can be helped 
by the spirits of those in the body, they cannot help 
you. 

If your life is sinful, that is the realm from which 
you will draw. 'Tis the old, old story, repeated so 
many times that it has grown old, yet, we will use 
it again — like attracts like, and those who are drawn 
to you from that other expression of life will be just 
as nearly like you as it is possible for two beings to 
be. They may not use the same expressions, but the 
quality will be much like yourself because they come 
from the same realm in which you spiritually dwell. 



186 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

How to Build a Protective Force. 

Man in his search for the things of mystery finds 
that he has the power to bring communications 
from the other world — the light has come that he 
even might act as an instrument between the two 
worlds ; and in his anxions way sometimes he goes 
blindly, not knowing that first it is well that he pre- 
pare himself to work in the fields of the unseen. He 
ought not go into the unknown fields without first 
guarding himself with a protective force, and it is 
this we wish to impress deeply upon your conscious- 
ness — disembodied spirits are striving every mo- 
ment to reach you to say, "We are not dead" — and 
it is to tell you to build that protective force that we 
come to you. 

All over your nation today is coming into existence 
the mediumship known as automatic writing. It is 
because mankind has developed a very high sense of 
clairvoyancy; but in their effort to prove spirit re- 
turn thru these wonderful gifts, they have confused 
mind reading and psychology with spirit return. It 
is thru no fault of theirs, but because they find they 
possess a wondrous power which they cannot under- 
stand, and this power has been very much abused 
thru ignorance. 

But when the spirit world, or the intelligence out- 
side of the body controls the hand of man without in 
the least touching his mind, what can they say of 
this? Spirits outside of the body in their great ef- 
fort to touch the consciousness of man in the body 
found that while working thru the minds of men they 
very often convey messages holding a large per- 



PROTECTIVE FORCES 187 

centage of the mind of the instrument. And so they 
strove to find another avenue thru which to give to 
you those thoughts which they could not give thru 
other phases of mediumship, and the spirit will often 
use the astral body of the sitter. In doing this they 
can, without in the least affecting the mind of that 
medium, control just the hand or just the arm. Man 
can use his mental powers to control any part of his 
body. 

To obtain automatic writing, it is best to have a 
pencil which is your own, and which no other has 
used. Hold it closely within your hands as you pass 
mentally into that spiritual field of thought where 
you gather about you those forces who will protect 
you against undesirable visitors from the lower 
realms of thought. Take that pencil in your hand, 
holding the holy thought of spirit, then relax your 
arm. Perhaps you may not be able to do this at 
first ; but if you cannot at first use this method with- 
out thinking of it, cover your hand or hide your 
face ; sing, speak or do something that will take your 
mind entirely away from your hand. There are very 
few who when they seek in this way cannot within 
a short time receive some little proof from the 
world beyond the grave. 

Reach out to the holy trinity of thought, Infinite 
Love, Universal Harmony, Absolute Wisdom, and 
reaching to that great, unperceivable trinity of 
thought, you cannot go wrong. If you have never 
been convinced that the spirit can commune with 
you, try it. It will not harm you — but remember, it 
is necessary that you clothe yourself in truth. 

Do not sit for amusement. Let me impress this 



188 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

deeply ; before you try to lend your hand, learn how 
to build your thought about you, learn how to clothe 
yourself before you send into the realm of light a 
desire to lend a portion of your body to that world 
that they may reach mankind. 

Sometimes that hand is moved only thru vibration, 
thought vibration. Many times that hand is moved 
so that the message is conveyed to you as the thought 
is sent from that consciousness beyond the grave; 
and many times the hand will move again and again, 
making nothing but little marks. But do not become 
discouraged, because this is only the beginning. 
When a baby first attempts to stand, it falls, but it 
rises again and makes another attempt, and so it is 
with the development of those powers. 

Do not use those powers for material purposes 
until you know that they are entirely outside of 
your own mind. Do not allow the spirit to convey 
to your world messages which interest only material 
minds. Do not allow the spirit forces to use your 
hand to tell you that another is wronging you, or 
anything of that sort, because in doing this you are 
sending out just that destructive thought. This 
is something I wish to let sink deep into your 
consciousness — if you, thru curiosity, attempt to 
read a message before it is completed, many times 
the message will change its course, will be much 
of yourself. "Wait patiently, hold strongly the 
thought for a limited space of time, because those 
who are trying to manipulate that instrument are 
sometimes in ignorance of the laws. Sometimes 
they have been away from that physical body so 
long that they have progressed away from the 



PROTECTIVE FORCES 189 

physical needs, and they would hold a portion of 
your body longer than it would be well for it physic- 
ally. And so lend your body only for a limited time 
— they will not overreach their privilege. 

Independent writings are developed to a very 
great extent today thru concentration. The same 
law governs all phases of mediumship ; and we are 
presenting the lessons which will help you to reach 
out to the other world. Automatic writings are 
more universal than any other phase of medium- 
ship today. Independent writings are not so com- 
mon. It takes a longer time to put your mind in 
that state where you can obtain them — and it is 
well to have a pencil which holds just your own 
magnetic force, because in lending it to others it 
takes a part of their vibration with it. So hold it 
sacred to your own use; and when you sit for this 
purpose, do not hold that pencil and endeavor to 
obtain automatic writing, because if the spirit 
world find they can reach you thru that method, 
they will not put forth so great an effort as is re- 
quired for the independent writing. All cannot 
develop this power, but a great many can. 

You cannot say, "I want to be an independent 
writer" or "I want to be a clairvoyant", but if it 
is within you and you can bring it forth, then sit in 
spiritual meditation for a limited space of time each 
day. But meet your helpers in spirit regularly — 
be not anxious that the pencil move, but just sit in 
spiritual meditation with yourself, in the silence of 
your own soul commune with yourself, and find the 
weaknesses within you and attempt to overcome 
them, make yourself spiritual ; and have within you 



190 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

that thought, if they can reach you, they will. It 
may take a long time, and it may be that the power 
is not within you, but it is well to try to develop it. 

You must learn that a spirit because it has left 
the body is not necessarily an illuminated spirit. 
They are in the realm of thought in which they 
lived — and it is easier for those on the lower plane 
of thought to manifest than it is for those who have 
long since left their temples of clay. Their physical 
memory is fresh within their consciousness, and 
they remember better how to reach you than those 
who have progressed farther into spirit and who 
return to you with things of the soul ; therefore, put 
forth great effort (it is a hard lesson for you to 
learn) to reach the purer, more enlightened souls 
by building a spiritual channel thru which they can 
reduce thru all the different octaves of vibration 
until they can reach you in the flesh body. 

These are the lessons we would impress upon your 
consciousness : First, the protective force of spirit- 
ual expression; second, the development of the 
powers within you ; third, the satisfied souls greeting 
you who say, "You have shown me the way." 

Is there any thing which can make the souls of 
men rise into spiritual light more than an appreci- 
ative brother who speaks of the satisfaction he has 
received thru your spiritual thought? These lessons 
we leave with you, take them home with you, think 
on them. May you reach into the very highest 
realms of spiritual thought possible and there find 
the things of the spirit, and then bring them to your 
brother. 



PROTECTIVE FORCES 191 

Spirit communication is today but in its infancy. 
Can you expect to receive perfect thoughts, perfect 
lessons, pure spirit lights, thru channels which are 
filled with mortal thought, filled with avarice, filled 
with hate, filled with jealousy and filled with selfish- 
ness? Do you think that the tidings of eternal love 
can reach you thru these channels? No! But thru 
it all as man reaches for light and truth, takes away 
the things which are earthy, takes away the things 
which are not pure, he finds the glorious truth, pure 
unadulterated spirit. The only way you can receive 
these thoughts, these pure messages of light is by 
living the truth, by building about yourself only 
those conditions which will attract pure spirits. 

Many times upon investigation man finds things 
which are false, things which are impure — why? 
Because they are attracted to him — like attracts like 
— then why not build about yourself that strong 
protective force which will not permit all these to 
come to you. Live in the glorious light of truth, and 
go into the golden silence, commune with pure 
spirits, open the way to a higher and pure realm of 
thought, reach out for those things beyond the grasp 
of mortal mind, for the light which will illuminate 
your consciousness and bring to your soul the real- 
ization of what little benefit is derived from ma- 
terial things, and the wondrous help of the glorious 
uplifting influence of spiritual desires. 

Now, it is very difficult for us to manifest to you 
when the atmosphere is disturbed, but when things 
are peaceful, when things are bright, when One can 
see the glorious harmony in nature, then is it easier 



192 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

for the spirit to descend thru the vibrations and 
speak and manifest to you. 

Then is it not well to build the thought which is 
pure, to live a life that all pure minds disembodied 
can be attracted to you because they are in tune with 
your thoughts — so that only those who are spiritual 
and good, only those who will uplift you will be at- 
tracted to you. 

As you put forth effort to serve your fellow-man, 
as you seek for more and more of the things of 
spirit, there will be cast around you the light which 
will show you the way that you may be well ma- 
terially and well spiritually. If you build about 
yourself only those things which are good, you will 
bring to yourself only good conditions. To receive 
good, send out good ; to receive evil, send out evil. 

What man desires to receive things which are not 
good! But if he sows the seed, that shall his har- 
vest be. 



They say, "Thru all the ages spirits have re- 
turned, and spirits have caused minds to wander — 
they have even destroyed bodies." Yes, 'tis true, 
spirits have done these things — spirits in the flesh 
have done this, too; (man is as much a spirit while 
in the flesh body as he is after death) ; spirits in the 
flesh have sinned and are sinning against their fel- 
low-men; and spirits out of the flesh are doing the 
same things. 

What man of you can say that every friend of 
yours, every one who calls himself your friend, has 
always spoken the truth, has never violated, but has 
always spoken the truth f Not one of you can stand 



PROTECTIVE FORCES 193 

upon your feet and say tonight that every man in 
this world of flesh who calls himself your friend has 
always spoken the truth. And the world of spirit 
which is just beyond the grave is filled with men 
who have been in the flesh — they passed into that 
world just as they were in this life; the mere ex- 
perience called death does not change their individ- 
uality ; does not remove from them all their charac- 
teristics, they carry them with them. And so they 
return, they come as they are, and if they deceived 
in the flesh, why, they will deceive out of it, until 
they have grown out of all the physical memories 
and habits. 

There are those of you who have learned the price 
of untruth, have found the value of truth, the mean- 
ing of truth, and would not falsify ; and so it is with 
those out of the flesh. Those who are progressing, 
when they become illuminated and progress from 
the undeveloped thoughts of the physical, they learn 
the price of falsehood, and they learn the value of 
truth. 

So in your search, know that there are times when 
you will meet those who may desire to harm you, 
and will unless you know how to protect yourself in 
your investigation. But when you have learned to 
clothe yourself, prepare yourself for the journey 
into the unseen world, protect yourself, you will not 
permit the undeveloped to come to you. 

In your investigation search not for deception, 
search not for untruth, but search for the things 
which the unfolding soul needs; and that is truth 
and helpful thoughts which will make of you a bet- 



194 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

ter man or a better woman, and open the way for a 
clearer vision of the things of God. 

But men in their desire to know of spirit return, 
to know whether or not this is true, (this thing that 
all the orthodox churches are opposing ; and yet are 
drawing into their ranks, preparing to give it to 
the people under the cloak of their particular doc- 
trine) must know first before they penetrate the 
wall between that in spirit there are ranks and 
classes, and all kinds of souls just as there are in 
the flesh. 

So in your investigation know this: When you 
come to the brink of the great chasm between your 
world of expression and that world which is just 
across this mysterious chasm, that world of which 
you know so little, there are various methods of 
reaching it and there are dangerous pathways thru 
which you must go. 

You must not lend your bodies for the control of 
any one who is intellectually your inferior. Do not 
allow any spirit to control your mind or your body 
unless they are superior to you intellectually, so 
that when this is done they may leave you some 
helpful thought or something that is good. This is 
the terrible mistake that man in his foolish investi- 
gation makes — he goes blindly into the chasm of 
darkness searching for the truth of spirit return; 
and in doing this he invites destructive forces to 
him. 

Some say there is no truth in the old thought, 
"Like attracts like", but, it is true, and you will see 
it as you study the methods and mediums in all the 
different walks of life. You will find that those who 



PEOTEOTIVE FORCES 195 

work with them as guides and helpers are of the 
same quality spiritually; they draw them from the 
same realm of thought to which they have grown. 

We are very bitterly criticised for making these 
statements; but it is our duty to warn you of this 
because if you allow those of inferior minds to con- 
trol you they become so accustomed to coming to 
you, and your own thought becomes weakened, for 
it is only a destructive force which will dare to enter 
your body and bring manifestation to man which is 
untrue or impure. There are those out of the body 
who are still in their sex memories, who still have 
latent the physical sensations and appetites because 
their physical bodies are still in form. ("We have 
explained to you in previous lessons the good of 
having the flesh body cremated after the soul has left 
it, so we will not dwell upon that here.) But we will 
tell you once again that there are those in spirit 
who have very pronounced within them the physical 
memories because their whole individuality reflects 
that; they have lived entirely for the satisfying of 
their physical desires and appetites. 

But know this : No matter how low they have fal- 
len, some time somewhere, they will begin to unfold 
the spirit within, and that which reflects all good 
will be illuminated by the higher law of unfoldment, 
and they will develop the finer quality which is not 
lust but love, which is not avarice but service which 
is not hate but universal love — the love of one man 
for all men in every class in every walk of life. 

Then again, there is the danger of insanity. Those 
who speak against a man becoming enlightened along 
the line of spirit return, speak truly when they say 



196 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

many have gone insane. But it is for you who know 
how to commune with the spirit world to educate 
man and direct his thinking powers along the line of 
spiritual thought, because it is true that those who 
come rushing in to manifest are those who are close 
to the physical and less spiritual. 

We have gathered about you that protective In- 
dian force; because Indians in their peculiar way 
clear the atmosphere for our vibration — and they 
shall stay in touch with you until you are entirely 
protected. In the development of your mediumship 
you are being protected and spiritually educated for 
the great work, and the mission of a medium. The 
time will come when you will feel in your souls a 
realization of our efforts to protect you and to keep 
open the way for spirits of the higher realms to 
manifest. And then you will know the necessity of 
preparation and education in the proper develop- 
ment of mediumship. 

The time is not far distant when thru our great 
effort, and by your assistance, we shall overcome 
this terrible demoralization which is being perpe- 
trated upon you today by undeveloped mediums 
seeking spirit communion with the forces who are 
also undeveloped and ignorant thereby creating 
lower spirit conditions. We will protect you, and we 
ask you to aid us. 

Spirits who are in the lower spheres are placed 
there because their thoughts were and are not only 
material but earthy, low, and their appetites have 
been their masters. 

Why are they there? To meet their masters; and 
if it should be appetite for wrong doing, they meet 



PROTECTIVE FORCES 197 

that master, and they must overpower that master. 
How? By doing good. 

Many are in the lower realms of spirit before 
they are even aware that there is a higher life, be- 
fore they even dare to think of anything higher, and 
so they are close to the lower thoughts of man, and 
if man reaches into that realm he will get just what 
is in that realm. 

Death severs the soul from the body, but it does 
not make that man good until he has risen and 
shaken away all the mistakes of his flesh life, the 
thoughts, the appetites, the habits remain with him 
for a time. 

Some of you know this, some of you are hunting 
and searching, and some have been merely touched 
by the light, but search farther; do not go into spirit 
communion until you prepare yourselves mentally 
and spiritually, for it is more than a dangerous 
thing to do. Therefore, make conditions which will 
invite to you the enlightened spirits and thru that 
protective line of spirit your loved ones will come. 
When spiritualists (so-called) learn to lift spirit 
communion up to the high standard to which it be- 
longs they will have found the key which unlocks 
the door between them and their loved ones ; and all 
this time they are growing in spirit and making a 
beautiful pathway into their tomorrow. Study the 
laws of truth and harmony and morality, and the 
light is bound to come. 

If you will cultivate the inner powers, if you will 
illuminate the heaven within you, if you find the 
Godspark within you and bring forth its illumin- 
ation, you ivill protect yourselves. 



198 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

The spirit within, the spark of the Infinite, is wis- 
dom. That which man gathers from the surface and 
thru experience is knowledge. Knowledge wakens, 
aye, tut wisdom reveals. So take thru knowledge 
all that you can gather from the world beyond, hold 
it as knowledge, and then in deep, solemn, prayerful, 
spiritual meditation illuminate it with the spirit 
within, and behold, thru wisdom you will know that 
it is not the man who searches materially that finds 
the light. He may find that which satisfies him for 
a time, but he does not gather the great good that 
man gathers thru searching spiritually. 



CHAPTER VII. 



INVISIBLE HELPERS. 

Every soul born into the flesh has its guides ; some 
call them guardian angels, but it does not matter 
what you call these invisible helpers. They lead you 
and guide you, but they cannot rule you ; only your 
individuality, the inner part of, you can make for 
yourself your future conditions, for God, the great 
spirit, the great soul, the great fountain of life, of 
ALL, is constantly imbuing you with light, life, un- 
derstanding, which you can illuminate, and the mo- 
ment it is illuminated, it is for you to continue 
illuminating it, enlarging it in your search and in 
your effort, and in your service. 

If you are reaching out for knowledge of spiritual 
things, the greater intelligences will come to you 
repeatedly when the door is open that they might, 
and in every instance they will instruct you. 

If you are seeking more for development, only for 
manifestation, you will draw more of the earth force, 
and yet just as good as you are good, but of a lower 
nature, a more simple nature. 

But we feel that you will reach out into the higher 
realms to draw helpers to you that you might learn 
more and more of the lessons of TRUTH. 



200 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

Man searches always upon the surface. To gather 
the things of the soul he strives to bring it into his 
consciousness thru the physical senses; and so the 
spirits return, have returned, and still continue to 
return to tell him more and more of how to mani- 
fest that he might gather truth into the soul thru 
the physical senses. The invisible helpers reach 
down thru the dense physical vibration to man that 
he might awaken the spiritual part of himself, that 
he might reach out into the school of spiritual ex- 
pression and learn thru it the unseen, unfelt, yet 
ever present forces who will touch him in the silence. 

Therefore, as the spirit returns to present to you 
the lessons of the soul, he meets with great obstacles. 
Man will take just so much as his physical needs to 
satisfy his own selfish thought and desires, and he 
does not care to accept that part which crowds away 
some of the selfish part of his own spirit. I dare say, 
he will claim that that teacher gives him only his 
personal opinion. This is a great mistake. 

The teacher who returns to instruct man in the 
flesh returns from the school of spiritual expression 
and presents to him not one word but that which 
he has gathered from that higher realm of thought. 
He does not give the things which have only ap- 
peared to his own individual self, but he gives the 
universal thought which has been gathered from the 
vast field of spiritual expression; and it is thru 
great study and great effort that he returns to in- 
struct. 

The soul language has no spoken words, and the 
soul that returns to present to man a lesson borrows 
of his own vocabulary for the purpose of teaching 



INVISIBLE HELPERS 201 

that individual the things of the soul, and to lift 
him and present to him the lesson which he never 
could have possessed until the physical vibration 
has been penetrated with spiritual instruction. 

When you are putting forth your effort to pene- 
trate into the world beyond, do not think that the 
effort is all on your part. Do not think that when 
you are putting forth your energy to look into the 
unseen that you are all that is working; for in the 
unseen realms there are hundreds and thousands 
and millions who are daring to return thru all the 
density of the discordant vibration of hate, murder, 
and the bloody vibration which is surrounding your 
planet today. They come in the sacred light of God, 
descendant spirits, invisible helpers, pure and holy 
spirits whose lives are consecrated to the service of 
man upon the mortal plane. They descend, and it is 
with great effort they come down, down, down thru 
the black, the red, the gray, the brown vibrations 
down to the consciousness of man in the physical. 

The hands of dead men are not idle. They are 
busy hands all leading you, loving hands guiding 
you, trying to show you the way. 

Master minds descending upon the earth, borrow- 
ing astral bodies to manifest, are sending forth into 
the consciousness of those who are receptive the 
things of spirit which will ever and ever live, and 
make for better all mankind. Masters are manifest- 
ing thru the flesh all about you ; but they are lifting, 
they are not crushing; they are guiding man into 
something which they cannot explain. They wonder 
why their visions have changed or softened, they 
wonder why they must put themselves in tune with 



202 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

the destructive thought (the great war) which en- 
velops your earth plane today ; but something seems 
to be lifting them out, they are changing their 
thoughts and they wonder why. It is because they 
have made themselves receptive to the things of 
spirit, and the greater minds are sending forth that 
light which is illuminating and making them see 
thru the spirit; and they will rise so far that they 
cannot be a part of that which is destructive. 
Something invisible, something stronger is pulling 
you higher and higher away from all the lower 
qualities and is making you more spiritual. 

Know that master minds in the flesh can touch 
your consciousness too; because they know how to 
leave their flesh body, and many times they gather 
knowledge from the higher realms. They are taken 
into the schools and taught how to leave their body 
that they may lift and serve mankind. They know 
not where they are or why it is so, but they -are 
drawn into the school where what seems to them as 
an experience ; and that mind is being used by some 
greater mind to touch the minds of men in the flesh. 



In different parts of the globe there are witnesses 
of the dawn of a new expression of spiritual thought, 
and the spirits who are acting as ministering angels 
to the earth plane at the present time (and have for 
the past, I might say, 500 years) are witnessing the 
same change on their plane of thought that you are 
on your plane. They are passing into a higher ex- 
pression which will carry them farther away from 
the earth plane, and which will make it more difficult 
for them to manifest to you, but in their places will 



INVISIBLE HELPEB8 203 

step more students, more helpers, more teachers who 
have been prepared for the great work of helping 
humanity. Soon there will be born upon the earth 
another great teacher, another spiritual leader who 
will lead men into spirituality, in so far as their 
mentality can grasp it at the present time. Each 
era or age shall bring into existence that teaching 
from the realm of light which will bring man to a 
higher stage of unfoldment. 

And so as man develops mentally he reaches 
higher spiritually, and thus brings to his planet 
those teachers from the realms of light to which 
his thoughts reach. And as there preceded the 
former spiritual leader of nearly 2,000 years ago 
messengers who prepared the way, so it is now as 
we come here to prepare the way for the teachers 
who are to come and who will show you and teach 
you and eventually make the doorway more clear 
to you, and thru which you will receive that light for 
which mankind hungers today. 

You (students of the Circles of Light) are the 
mortal witnessess of the birth of this new spiritual 
light — make yourselves ready — make yourselves as 
a solid foundation of rock upon which it may rest, 
for it shall be asked of you ; for your opportunities 
are greater than many. We beg of you to practice 
in your everyday life your promise to do unto others 
as you wish to have them do unto you. Practice 
harmony in your everyday life, in your home and 
out of it. 



In sitting for development and becoming ac- 
quainted with some influence which is attracted to 



204 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

him, man as soon as lie finds that he can communi- 
cate with the spirit, he immediately heeds the teach- 
ing of that spirit before he knows from what realm 
that spirit comes. First, test the spirits that you 
may know whether or not they have been drawn to 
you from spiritual thought or from the physical and 
material thought. It is not always the spirit who 
manifests most readily to you that is the most help- 
ful to you. 

Sometimes the spirit which you never hear speak 
to you in the silence, or never feel the presence, per- 
haps mentally is helping you more than all you have 
heard speaking to you. 

Many of your silent helpers are lifting you higher 
and higher out of the lower vibration; and some 
time, if you put forth the necessary effort, you will 
become acquainted personally with the guides and 
helpers about you. 

Now, as man becomes acquainted with the laws 
which govern spirit return, and sits in spiritual 
meditation that he may unfold and bring into ex- 
pression his inner self, he draws nearer to him those 
outer intelligences, or spirits disembodied, who are 
attracted to him. He draws so near that he becomes 
acquainted with them and so he finds that they are 
individuals and not merely vibrations. Many times 
before he has known positively that it is an individ- 
ual whose mind is close to him, he has felt that it 
was something urging him or helping him to higher 
thoughts. 

A guide or helper is one who is drawn to you thru 
the spiritual line of thought, and when you sit for 
spiritual unfoldment you open the way for the mani- 



INVISIBLE HELPERS 205 

festation of that individual. Now it is for you to 
help that guide as well as for him to help you. You 
can help him thru your own spiritual expression and 
he can help you by the mental, and will guide and 
help you in many instances where it is best for you. 

If you are truthful, reliable, trustworthy, know 
that the entities who are attracted to you will be 
likewise — and if you are not, you can expect only 
those which are of the same quality as you are. 

Then, too, I will say that as you unfold spiritually 
you attract more and more of the enlightened minds 
to you, those who have passed thru different realms 
of thought and have gathered much from the higher 
realms, and you will rise with them. 

All men and women living in the flesh have some 
intelligences who are directly in line with them be- 
cause they move spiritually in the line of spirit tho 
they walk in the flesh, and so you spiritually have ac- 
quired a spiritual friendship ; but your mind in the 
flesh does not always give to you as a memory the 
experiences it has upon the spiritual plane of 
thought, only as you hold a higher thought. But 
you can help them and they can help you if they 
have come to you from that realm of thought which 
is of pure spirit. 

(Invisible helpers talk in the audible voice to 
members of the Circles of Light. The following is 
a personal message to one of the members). 

"I came into your home — I was not acquainted 
with your name, but I was in your home when your 
family were sick. It was at a time when you were 
praying that you might know what to do, and I 
stood right by your side, but you had no sense of 



206 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

feeling my presence. There is no stronger invita- 
tion given to us than that which comes thru prayer- 
ful thought ; and as my great desire has been to bear 
some spiritual message to mankind, I am very 
strongly drawn to you by your prayer in thought. 

"You have asked to be shown the proper step to 
take, and I am here to guide you ; and I shall stand 
by your side, and I shall be of some assistance to 
you — and I am glad of the opportunity. 

"You do not know me by name, but if you will 
send your thoughts to your Godhead, I will come 
upon the rays of that light to minister unto you. 
My life upon the earth plane was that of a monk, 
though here I have come to serve in God's holy name 
and light. 

"A great future lies before you, my sister, and I 
will help you as you bring those little ones into 
womanhood. You have done for His sake a great 
deal, and your life will be a spiritual help to those 
you have drawn to you. God bless you." 



"Friends, I have come to speak only for a moment 
or two, tho I am out of the flesh and you are in it — 
that is why I speak to you ; as I am standing here I 
am sending you these thoughts. 

"You are holding in your hands tonight, sym- 
bolically speaking, the key which can make harmony 
for you, that will make happiness for you, or that 
which will create all unhappiness. Little do men 
realize as they walk in the flesh that they are hold- 
ing an opportunity far greater than any opportunity 
to make or build material things; but to you who 
have found that key which will open the doors be- 



INVISIBLE HELPEBS 207 

tween the two worlds (there are keys and keys) let 
me tell you, lest you forget, that in all your search 
attend to this thought: Hold to the things of God 
whilst in that garden in which you walk today ; for 
it holds the fruits of the hidden things of God. 

"What is God? God is a spiritual unseen, ever- 
living, never dying fountain of wisdom of which 
you are a part. Therefore, I say this to you: lest 
you wish to walk in the garden in light, stay out of 
it — stay out of it. If you walk in unselfishness in 
search of God and spirit, in search of the hidden 
things for good, then come with us and let us show 
you the way to the hidden things of God. The sacred 
channels upon which you are daring to place your 
feet hold the things that no man in sin shall dare to 
touch. 

"Do you dare to reach out for the things of the 
soul, and sin and recklessly gather them in? No, it 
is a dangerous thing to do. Clothe yourselves in 
purity and truth, and if it is for truth you are 
searching, come forth and you shall find it. Happi- 
ness will be your reward; but if you are searching 
for satisfaction of selfish desires, turn away my 
good brethren ; seek ye another channel. 

"In the light of peace and purity and love shall be 
born a new race. Some of you shall be parents of a 
new generation born to lift and to serve mankind. 

"I speak to you in the name of that unseen power 
of God which no man can wholly conceive of whilst 
in the flesh. I serve in this field of material life be- 
cause I have spent but twenty years in the flesh. 
My friends, I stand before you a creature not in the 



208 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

flesh in order that I might lift man into a little 
higher spiritual thought. 

"You are searching for TRUTH, so beware that 
you step not into the garden in the spirit of selfish- 
ness. Good night." 



(Another invisible helper speaks.) 

"Now friends, I am no speaker, but I can help 
you in different ways. I was a man who thought of 
nothing but the accumulation of material goods; I 
was a man who thought of nothing but the building 
of a fine home, with fine furnishings and everything 
that appealed to the material eye of man; I never 
thought I had a soul ; but, oh, brothers and sisters, 
one day there came upon me a sickness and I found 
myself unable to obtain medical aid sufficient to 
overcome it ; and there came into my mind the real- 
ization that I must die. Oh, God, I cannot tell you 
the feeling that came upon me. The memories of 
this are hard to bear, but it is necessary that I do 
bear it because it is of my own creation, they tell me. 
And then there came the day when I must leave that 
body; I was conscious, until my soul was gone from 
my body I had every sense ; it seemed to me that I 
never could leave that body; it seemed that I must 
cling closer to that body for it was all that I had; 
and then I found myself entirely free from that body, 
and when I tried to pick up articles in my room I 
could not move them. I tried to put my hand upon 
the shoulder of my wife, to tell her that I was still 
there, that I was not gone, but she did not hear me ; 
she did not know that I was there. 



INVISIBLE HELPEKS 209 

"I attended the funeral of my body, I attended 
the services and heard the minister say, 'He is in 
heaven.' I stood by his side craving that I might 
return to that body because I had no thought of any- 
thing beyond the body. My thoughts were all ma- 
terial, and now it seemed that all was gone — no per- 
son saw me. I was carried away into a deep sleep ; 
and when I wakened I saw my mother standing be- 
side me, and she said, 'Davy, my boy, forget the 
earth, forget the things you served for, and know 
that you are only now beginning to live; that you 
must rise and rise and reach out for Grod. You for- 
got Him, you forgot your soul.' There was not 
within me the power to talk ; I could not speak to her 
but I could hear her as she spoke to me. Finally I 
said, 'Mother, am I dreaming 1 ? I have worked all 
these years ; I have saved my money, and now is it 
all gone?' She said, 'God bless you, my boy, David, 
release yourself from the earth, loosen yourself 
from these thoughts of that life.' 

"Then there came upon me a fear — I cannot ex- 
press it to you because you cannot feel it, for your 
souls are not so sensitive. I could not release my- 
self from the desire to return to those things which 
I had builded around me. 

' ' After a time I was filled with a great desire for 
something else, for something that they could not 
take from me; and then there came into my mind, 
into my soul, the glorious feeling of unfoldment, 
and I felt that I could go on, but oh, I wanted to 
come back and tell those who are hoarding and 
saving only with material thoughts not to do it. 
Please don't do it; try to develop spiritually so 



210 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

that when you come into the spirit life you will 
find something here for you; something you can 
touch; something you can know, and then you will 
realize that you have saved something besides 
material things. 

"What I want to do, brothers and sisters, is to 
walk with you and show you, and show men and 
women that the soul is more important than all the 
earthly wealth they may possess. May God bless 
you and show you the reality of the soul. ,, 



(Spirit teacher explains how they reduce to the 
physical vibration.) 

We hold within our consciousness a strong de- 
sire to carry to you words spoken in your familiar 
tongue which will give to you the thoughts that we 
have gathered here. We pass into a higher 
vibration where all is light, all is motion, all is per- 
fection; then we reduce into a heavier vibration 
where it is almost, as it would seem to you, un- 
breathable. We feel out of place, and we have to 
put forth great effort, but we know that we are 
serving you. We feel as you would feel if you 
were to go down into a mine to rescue your fellow- 
man; then we pass into a lower and heavier 
vibration, and so on until we pass thru all the 
density which surrounds you. Then we send out 
strongly from our consciousness the words we 
speak; we hold it in our will; we borrow your 
physical strength; we send to you from our con- 
sciousness the words we would speak. We come as 
you would creep into a mine to rescue your brother ; 



INVISIBLE HELPERS 211 

then would any man in his ignorance dare to drag 
the spirit down to the material; drag the spirit 
along the highway of dust and say, ' ' Tell me some- 
thing which will make me rich; tell me how to get 
the best of my brother." 

These are the crimes the ignorant inquirers dare 
to commit; these are the sins they perpetrate 
against the spirit who reduces thru all the glorious 
vibration down to the density of the earth. He 
comes to save a soul; he comes to help you to live 
a better life — and then there are those who attend 
a spiritualist meeting just because they want to 
find something which they have lost. 

In the independent voice, a spirit puts forth 
wonderful effort to reach you. He does not borrow 
the speaking organs of any one, he does not borrow 
your mind; he merely builds upon the vibrations 
you lend him, and he speaks to you upon it. 

If the little things we tell you pertaining to your 
material life are for the purpose of making you 
better, and lifting you spiritually, we are glad to 
do it. 

The spiritual world has many inhabitants who 
love humanity and they return to the mortal plane 
with the desire to touch the consciousness of man 
and tell him the secret of life, the secret of content- 
ment, the secret of knowing. The spirit returns 
and speaks into your soul those things which make 
you better, those things which illuminate your soul 
and fill you with a desire to rise and be better. 
These are the things for which the spirit returns 
to the mortal plane — the things which have 
brought the spirit world close to you. It is not 



212 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

to tell you whether or not your wife is true, it is 
not to tell you where you lost your watch — but it is 
to waken man's soul to the reality of things, and 
to lead him on in his search. 

Harmony is born of spirit. Love is born of 
spirit and is the mother of charity and under- 
standing. The why of all things can only be dis- 
cerned and solved by spirit, for spiritual things can 
only be discerned by spirit. 

Alas, many souls who have awakened to the truth 
of spirit return only stand at the doorway of the 
earth side of the door and as they come just greet 
them with "how do you do," and "Kind friend, 
have you a message for me?" And they pass on; 
and another comes and it is the same greeting he 
hears, and so on and on, and the spirits leave no 
deeper impression upon him as they enter the door- 
way at which he stands in his investigation because 
he does not step to the other side of the door and 
learn more of the expression of life over there; he 
does not learn more of how to live and how to do 
and how to make and prepare that building in 
which he will live over there. He does not try to 
learn from those who are coming from the finer 
and higher places — poor man. 

There are souls and souls who are still in the 
flesh who have never sat in a seance room, never 
saw a public medium, yet they know their loved 
ones are with them because they have touched 
them spiritually thru the spiritual sense of their 
presence. 

And those who have stepped inside the door have 
asked that they may be of some service to the 



INVISIBLE HELPERS 213 

angel world in bringing the light. The guardian 
angels or helpers bring to them souls from all 
walks of life in the different stages in which they 
passed away and let the soul talk to them and 
show them what it means to die in that thought, in 
all the conditions thru which the soul passes. He 
will willingly give himself to the spirit world for 
the service of humanity. He becomes acquainted 
with those who brought him. 

All these poor souls are seeking an avenue thru 
which to serve ; for death does not perfect the soul ; 
oh, no, it is unfoldment, it is progress, it is refine- 
ment, and it is atonement — at-one-ment. It is all a 
process of growth. 

The souls who are taken from that other life 
with all their material and physical environments 
whose thoughts were all of that nature cannot be 
placed immediately at-one-ment with perfection. 
They must pass thru all of this, and they begin just 
where they leave off. If they leave the flesh world 
thru the door of hate, they cannot turn around and 
come back thru the door of love — if they return, 
they return as they left until they grow little by 
little out of it; until they come into the realization 
of spiritual light, progression and laws of life; 
then they step into the higher ranks of service, to 
serve the souls in the flesh and the souls in spirit 
who are unenlightened. 

These souls are brought by their guides and 
helpers to show man the way. And these who are 
first brought to you by your loved ones to protect 
you are your guardian angels. 

Now, I will stop here to answer a question: 



214 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

One has asked why so many Indians are attracted 
to those who develop as mediums. It is because 
they have always lived close to nature; they have 
always lived a plain and simple life. True, they 
were stirred to anger and many different con- 
ditions by outer minds, but when they were to- 
gether they were grouped always in harmony, their 
lives were always simple, always true. They had 
no false doctrines placed in their consciousness; 
they grew in a natural spiritual growth to a belief 
and a realization of a Great Spirit. Their highest 
conception of happiness was just plenty; but they 
did not reach far beyond the physical because they 
had no opportunity. They lived close to nature's 
simple way; that was their physical expression, so 
they could not plunge into a higher or finer 
vibration until they had more experience on the 
earth plane; and they return to work with other 
instruments in harmony with souls who are in- 
carnate and they break the way for a higher and 
finer vibration. 

The law of spirit communion — oh, the sacred law 
of God, so misinterpreted, so little understood, so 
much abused ; and yet so holy, so true, so beautiful, 
opens the way thru which the souls of men can re- 
turn to undo many things they did whilst in the 
flesh (which helps the soul in its ascension) to help 
others thru their service; and thru their love and 
upliftment of others they are tearing down many 
false conditions builded by them. Thru the many 
experiences thru which they passed they created 
obstacles in their way, and they are able to remove 
them by helping others. 



INVISIBLE HELPERS 215 

Let them serve you — they are trying to build 
their heaven because they forgot to build while on 
the earth plane, and they have their heaven to 
build here. 

The spirit returns to teach you things of the soul, 
to teach you how to build your heaven while still 
in the flesh, so open the door of your soul's home 
and listen to the voice of the spirit — invisible 
helpers guiding you into the glorious light of truth. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
HOW TO HELP THOSE GONE BEFORE. 



Thought force is something which would require 
a whole book to explain ; but this much we will give 
you at this time. The greatest force, the greatest 
power existing upon the earth plane today is man's 
power to think — then use it for spiritual purposes 
to lift poor unenlightened souls into a higher realm 
of thought. 

Thought force is as necessary to the soul of man, 
to the thinking power of man, or to the conscious- 
ness of man as air is to the physical body. This 
is the clearest description I can give you of thought 
force. You must reach into it step by step ever 
and ever ascending ; therefore we will say the great 
force from which thought is formed is flowing 
thru the consciousness of man. Oh, how this great 
wondrous thought force is wasted by mortal man. 

Thru the great thought power in man he brings 
into expression the wondrous conditions surround- 
ing him — and man is responsible for the conditions 
which are presenting themselves on your earth 
plane today. 



HOW TO HELP THOSE GONE BEFORE 217 

How Our Thoughts Effect Those Who Are in 
Spirit. 

(A spirit entered one of the classes and in audible 
voice presented the following lesson.) 

When I passed from that life on the earth, I was 
accused of having taken my own life — but I did not. 
I want you to know the effect of the thought that 
those people sent out — the thought that I had taken 
my own life. 

I will not bore you by taking you thru all the 
mental strain under which I was the last day I 
spent upon your plane of expression, nor will I tell 
you all the details of the accident, nor attempt to 
tell you of the sensation I experienced when leav- 
ing the body. I realized that our boat was capsized, 
realized that I was unable to swim. The thoughts 
passed thru my consciousness more rapidly than it 
were ever possible for me to have gathered 
thoughts before. I thought of every single thing I 
had ever done within less than a moment, for I 
knew the end must come; I was helpless. I was 
not only unable to swim, but I was paralyzed early 
in life. 

I was always of a very despondent nature be- 
cause of this and it bore upon me mentally to a 
very pronounced degree. Therefore, a report was 
immediately sent out by my acquaintances and 
those who were my brothers, saying I had taken 
my own life — which I did not. 

Their thoughts were being ever and ever sent 
out to me, placing me in their mental world a 
suicide — being of an orthodox nature of thought, 



218 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

believing in heaven and hell, they naturally be- 
lieved that I was in hell, having taken my own 
life, as they thought. Therefore, all the mental 
pictures they sent out into the universe to me or 
regarding me was that I was in hell, that I was a 
suicide. 

The thing that I want to impress upon you is the 
effect of man's thought upon the soul which is 
severed from the body. Having passed from the 
body, I passed into a thought world, and it was of 
a despondent nature ; it was all that I had sent out 
into this world. Here things are colored by my 
thought; and my thoughts were always of a dis- 
couraging nature; I saw everything thru the same 
color which seemed to envelop me upon all 
occasions — that I was unequal to my fellow-man 
physically. When with a group of men or people I 
would always picture myself as not being so good 
as they, because of my physical condition, there- 
fore when I passed into a world of thought I held 
that same thought. No matter whom I met I 
would still carry that same thought. 

It was then that I learned that thoughts are 
things — I had never known of the wondrous power 
of thought. 

I began to meet strange conditions which always 
carried me back to that same thought — I was not 
so good as those around me. I wondered why it 
was that as I passed along the highway I came 
and ever came to the dark gray place, the dark 
gray light which seemed to envelop me and carry 
me down (I do not mean downward as you would 
say, but downward as in solemn thought.) Then I 



HOW TO HELP THOSE GONE BEFORE 219 

discovered that the thoughts were coming direct 
to me from the earth plane — that I had taken my 
own life. 

I endeavored by great effort to find some method 
or some means by which it was possible for me to 
return, and this I accomplished by coming in direct 
line with one whom I was associated with in early 
life. I returned to tell that I had not taken my 
life; but I found that they were deaf, they were 
blind. 

Finally, one night a little child born to my sister 
was sick unto death and as she lay upon the bed 
gathering together her forces into the astral body, 
unto the little soul I sent forth my picture as I 
would have been were I a perfect man, and she 
saw it and cried, " Uncle Gerald is alive, mother, 
he is not dead, he did not kill himself." And the 
little soul passed from the body into my arms and 
I bore her away into that field of light where 
children grow and develop spiritually. . 

Now I want to impress upon you — even tho you 
know a soul passed from the body by his own hand, 
do not hold that thought, but rather think of him 
as one poor, unenlightened soul — for no man will 
do this thing whose mentality is as it should be. 
You do not know me, but I have come to one whose 
vibration I have known for some time. Good night. 



(Spirit teacher.) 
We have brought with us a great number of dis- 
embodied spirits tonight who have come in direct 
touch with you for assistance, therefore, we will 
ask that you go into the silent thought for a time 



220 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

and send a resurrection thought; send a thought 
which will lift these souls from the thought of their 
physical moments; lift them out of that into a 
spiritual thought for a time. 

There are many souls who have been disembod- 
ied but a short time and have not come into the re- 
alization that they no longer manifest in the 
physical body. Kindly go into the silent thought, 
for these souls need your help and you must reach 
out in spiritual thought and help them to find them- 
selves. 

(Glass concentrates.) 

The great war is taking many spirits from the 
earth expression. Disembodied souls are close to 
the earth plane. These souls were plunged into the 
spiritual expression unprepared — how can they 
know how to use any force other than the physical? 
Now you should reach out to them in spiritual up- 
lifting thought. Clothe yourselves in absolute truth, 
that great protective force, and aid these disem- 
bodied spirits. 

Now I do not say that all those who have passed 
out on the battlefields are undeveloped souls ; but I 
say that those who are in the physical expression 
and spiritually enlightened can aid them to get 
away from the flesh memories. Pray for them with 
that prayer which is not spoken — pray in your con- 
sciousness, touch that great and perfect light so 
nearly as you can. Reach out of the flesh memories 
for the good and speak in the silence of your soul 
to that perfect thought, and in that gather some- 
thing for those souls whose bodies are gone and 



HOW TO HELP THOSE GONE BEEOEE 221 

they know it not. They believe that they are 
dreaming, they cannot realize that they are dead, 
as you would call it. So aid them in your thoughts, 
they need your spiritual thoughts. 



Now I am going to tell you some simple little 
things that will help those souls to get away from 
their physical memories or sensations more quickly. 
If the individual has been always fond of the 
physical expression, given much care to the feeding 
and clothing of the physical body and has created 
an appetite for this and that, he will naturally 
hold strong memories of all the physical sensations, 
desires and appetites — just so long as that physical 
body holds its form it is reflecting upon the con- 
sciousness, every organ, of him who has left it. 
And so long as these organs reflect themselves on 
that astral body that soul of him will hold a strong 
memory of the sensations, desires and appetites of 
the flesh. 

If his tendency was that way and not inclined to 
be spiritual, his whole thought will be of the condi- 
tions surrounding him during his physical expres- 
sion. He will be drawn to those whom he knew in 
th,e flesh, he will come in the light of love, for he 
still loves them. I am not saying he was evil, no ; 
but this law which governs all this holds his mem- 
ories; but just so soon as that flesh body crumbles 
and goes back to dust, and all has gone, no longer 
does his physical sensations record themselves 
upon his astral body. 

So you are lending a helping hand by cremating 
the flesh body, putting it back to dust. You are ex- 



222 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

tending a helping hand to help that sonl thru a 
hard, hard lesson. Don't try to preserve that body 
— don't do it — for just so long as that cast off body 
holds its form the soul will be held to the physical 
memories and desires. 

In the building of your monuments, your head- 
stones, your tombstones and the like, yon build 
them of material things ; but the soul of your loved 
one has passed out of material things ; he can only 
see it and know it is there as he gathers your 
thought and reduces it to a lower vibration. He 
can see it and know it is there because yon have 
sent that thought to him. You will please him 
more by building a spiritual monument to his 
memory — a monument builded of kind deeds ; some- 
thing that will help humanity and bring blessings 
on souls thru the things you send out into the uni- 
verse. 

Build your monuments of pure and good 
thoughts, the spiritual monuments which go up 
and up and your loved ones in spirit see and know 
and rejoice in their souls to know that some one is 
building something lasting for them. The material 
monuments will crumble back to earth without be- 
ing of any help, but the spiritual monuments live 
thru all eternity. 

Souls returning say, "Do not spend the money 
that will clothe little bare feet for the sake of 
building perishable monuments." To those who 
are intending to do this, they say, "Do not place a 
stone monument to my memory — do a hind deed." 

Without a penny you can build spiritual monu- 
ments for your loved ones. 



HOW TO HELP THOSE GONE BEFORE 223 

Very often you have heard a returning spirit 
say, "I am near you in your prayers," or "I hear 
your prayers." 

What does this mean? In your prayers you cre- 
ate a channel of holiness and spirituality and into 
that and thru it they can come to you with the 
holiest of holy thoughts — a help to them and a help 
to you. 

There are souls all over the earth plane trying 
to come back, even searching for their people — 
searching for their flesh bodies. There are thou- 
sands who have passed from their physical bodies 
and know it not, they believe they are dreaming; 
they cannot realize they are dead (as you would 
call it), so aid them in your thoughts. In your 
spiritual thought, not with the thought, "I want to 
go to a seance; I want to know what to do about 
this; I want to know what is best for me." Don't 
do this. Those souls need your spiritual thought so 
don't be selfish and drag them down to your mate- 
rial thoughts, for it is hard enough for them to get 
away from the thoughts clinging to them. Lift 
them into the spiritual thought by your prayers 
and soulful aspirations. Know that you can help 
them — do not demand of them more than they can 
give you — help them. 

Sometimes those spirits whose lives were so be- 
dimmed by materialism, by envy, by hate, selfish- 
ness, jealousy, find themselves dragged down to the 
earth plane; and how man wrongs the spirits of 
those poor unfortunate souls when he will go into 
a seance room with a thought of gain, with a 
thought of envy, with a thought of nothing else but 



224 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

a material life. He opens the door to those spirits 
who have left the body in that line of thought and 
it holds them down and does not help them to rise 
into the light of spirit. 

Spiritually draw from the higher realms that 
thru your consciousness you may aid some poor 
souls to reach out of their fleshy thoughts; help 
them to rise and live in spirit. They are close to 
the earth plane because they were sent out of the 
flesh before they had completed that physical ex- 
pression and they need that expression upon the 
earth. 



(An object lesson presented to one of the classes.) 
(Spirit teacher:) Now tonight we are going to 
bring you one soul who needs your help. You must 
illuminate your consciousness by your effort to 
help. We will bring him to you; now let us see 
how you have benefited by what you have learned. 
Let us hear you express it — serve your fellow-man. 
(Spirit voice:) "No, you don't. You can't bring 
me back to that." (Class asks who is speaking.) 
"I don't care anything about you. You gave him 
the privilege of sending me to death. You gave 
that man the right to kill me." (Class tells him 
they are his friends.) "Friends, nothing; there 
arn't no such things as friends. Don't talk friends 
to me ; I know better than that. Come off with that 
stuff; I know where I am. Are you people 
looney?" (Class tells him they are trying to help 
his soul.) "Soul nothing — don't talk that brother 
stuff to me." (Class tried to help him spiritually 
but no apparent progress was made; however, 



HOW TO HELP THOSE GONE BEFOBE 225 

when he left he expressed a desire to come back.) 
(Spirit teacher explains the condition of the soul 
who had just spoken.) 

Now, my dear friends, we brought into your 
midst tonight the spirit of a man who passed from 
the body by the hands of another after he had com- 
mitted murder — willful murder. This man was 
kind and good previous to that which caused all 
this. In his unenlightened state he was kind to 
all with whom he came in contact, until there came 
into his life the realization that the one whom he 
trusted most, the one he loved best, was false. 
This realization killed all the good there was in his 
heart, killed it as much as it is possible to kill any- 
thing that is good. It was such a shock to his soul 
as to benumb all spiritual expression, and all his 
love turned to hate. His nature was hardened and 
changed. But over and over in all of life you will 
see the resurrection of the spirit in coming into the 
light. 

The hate which was born of those experiences of 
which we have spoken to you, is only for a time. 
All those evil expressions which came into his mind 
and became a part of him thru his terrible expe- 
rience, and caused him to do this awful deed, will 
not in this case retard his progression as much as 
the cause of that effect will retard the progression 
of her who caused it. 

He passed out full of revenge and hate, full of 
jealousy, full of all that is poison to the soul. 
When the soul finds itself feeding upon only these 
thoughts, living only on these things, what can you 
expect? But coming right before him are some of 



226 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

the things which were a part of the life which he 
once lived, and thru that light we can guide his 
way and lead him on. He will lose his bitterness 
and hate and come into a realization of the living 
love of which he is a part. 

His soul is freeing itself from the poisonous vi- 
brations in which he was while he was in the body. 
Now, help this soul by your thoughts, he needs it; 
and some time he will return to you and pay you. 
He would not let you know that you had touched 
him, because he had been fooled before by this 
woman whom he trusted. This is only another les- 
son to you. 



When you call your loved ones in spirit to you, 
that you may hear them and hold them close to you 
in love and in spiritual thought, it is a great help 
to them and to you. It opens the channel thru 
which they in their spiritual growth can cast the 
light of spirit upon the physical mentality of man 
and illuminate the consciousness to spiritual things. 

But after reaching them you should not speak to 
them of the past, you should not take them down 
thru the density of the memory to the old flesh ex- 
periences; down thru the dark avenue back to some 
particular experience which you remember; but 
rather you should help them to get away from the 
physical memories that they may progress more 
readily into the spiritual life. 

So in your investigation when once they have 
proven their identity to you do not remind them of 
their earthy experience, because it is not a pleas- 
ing . experience to the enlightened soul who is fast 



HOW TO HELP THOSE GONE BEFORE 227 

growing out of it by overcoming and serving to 
obliterate wrong doings in the flesh, serving in the 
world of spirit that they may wash away all the 
wrongs done. 

Transition, that which you feel brings sorrow to 
your hearts when you see your loved one's body 
pass back to earth, is an upward journey and you 
can help that soul in its upward flight by your per- 
fect thought, your perfect desires, by your univer- 
sal love thought. Do not grieve for your loved 
ones who have gone on before — it is a selfish 
thought — but bid them godspeed in their soul's as- 
cension. 

I want to leave this lesson also. Of all things, 
never raise the thought of material things soon 
after a soul has passed from the body for it affects 
that soul and it is destructive. Although there is 
a grief which cannot be overcome for many days 
or months, drive out the spirit of selfishness. And 
if one who is near to you should leave the body 
without leaving a written paper disposing of ma- 
terial things which were in his possession, let that 
soul rest, and do not disturb it with the thoughts 
of material things. 

"Do unto others as you would have others do 
unto you," lift and serve them; show them the way 
to grow thru that world of solidity after leaving 
the flesh, where they cannot know the physical 
memories, but realize the spiritual things, the re- 
freshing light of their spiritual deeds and thoughts. 



CHAPTER IX. 
EARTHBOUND SPIRITS. . 



Earthbound spirits are souls close to the earth because of 
limited thoughts having controlled their lives — limited entirely 
to the earth or physical expression — victims, alas! very fre- 
quently of prejudice and ignorance. They are souls whose 
spark of the God within has yet to be awakened. 

When a soul has not built up any spiritual conditions dur- 
ing the physical life and all thoughts and desires have been of 
a material nature, that soul naturally stays close to the earth, 
but is not necessarily an evil or undeveloped soul, but is satis- 
fied to remain in all the material memories, until the spiritual 
awakening comes which causes that individual to look about 
for ways and means to rise. 

(Thru the united efforts of chemists and teachers on the 
other side a way has been found by which the thought 
vibration can be reduced sufficiently to be discerned thru the 
physical sense of hearing. This group of workers having been 
attracted to the mediumistic powers of Mrs. Brace have ac- 
complished wonders in their earnest endeavor to reach mortal 
minds that they might instruct them pertaining to the laws of 
life. 

They have brought many souls to the Circles of Light that 
they may be helped by coming in contact with spiritual minds 
who are still in the flesh; and for this chapter we have 
selected a few of the many object lessons that have been 
brought from time to time to the different Circles of Light in 
order to show man in the physical how the thoughts and be- 
liefs held while in the flesh still remain after the body has 
been discarded; also to show the effects of the physical life 
upon the soul and to corroborate the statement, "As ye sow, 
so shall ye reap.") 



EABTHBOUND SPIRITS 229 

(1.) 

(The fruits of deceitf illness.) 

' ' No matter where I go, things are not what they 
seem. Everywhere I go I find things are not what 
I thought they were. I clasp the hand of one whom 
I think I might trust, and I find he is not to be 
trusted. Where shall I find the way? 

Now, there comes a voice to me which speaks and 
says, "Thou art false — thou art false, and I see 
all about you deception.' ' Is it because I have de- 
ceived? Is there any one who will lead me and 
show me? There comes that voice again which 
says, "You have deceived, and so you are deceived. 
As you have planted the seeds, so shall you reap." 

Friends, I deceived my fellow-men. I was not 
what I seemed to be. Now I find myself face to 
face with one that I thought was a friend, and I 
reached out my hand to clasp his. Behold, I find 
he is not what he seemed. Is this the reaping of 
the seed I have sown? Is this all that I am to re- 
ceive? Can I not rise above it? Will you help me 
— will you h-e-l-p me? I have asked this every- 
where I went, and now I have returned to the 
earth plane where I was so deceitful — I find that I 
must return to the mortal body and ask help from 
you. 

I believed that man lived one life and I believed 
not in the life beyond the grave, and yet I taught 
mankind that hell and heaven awaited them and 
that they would meet judgment after death. I told 
them these things which I believed were not true, 
so false was I — and for this falseness I am now 



230 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

paying. Is there no place where I can meet one 
that will tell me how I can find the light? 

Oh, brothers and sisters, if you will only help me. 
Let me tell you to be true — be true — do not deceive, 
for you will some time find you are deceived, when 
you will find yourself helpless. These words I 
speak to you, friends, are true. Will this bring me 
light? For this I pray — oh, God, open the way. 

(Class concentrates for him.) 

Now, there is light; I see there is hope. It is 
true, then, that I had to return to the earth to 
speak the truth. Oh, that I might be able to speak 
the truth to mankind, that which I want, that which 
I feel and that which I think to be the truth. 

I tell you this evening, I will not deceive. Oh, do 
help this soul. Do you know how? Do not deceive, 
speak the truth and I think that perhaps in that 
way you may help me. I have opened the way by 
giving to mortal man the truth. Behold! I see, I 
see the way — you have helped me." 



(2.) 

(A misused gift.) 

''My friends, I have come to you to ask a favor. 
I made a terrible mistake, and I know that there 
is no other way of overcoming the conditions 
brought about by that mistake than coming back 
to the earth plane and helping those who are at- 
tempting to do as I have done. I made a terrible 
mistake, my life was unfinished. I understood 
fairly well the laws which govern communication 



EAETHBOUND SPIRITS 231 

between the spiritual and mortal world; however, 
I never tried to enlighten myself in regard to the 
spiritual part of it. I looked at it wholly upon the 
material plane of thought with absolutely no 
thought of the spiritual side; but now I realize that 
that is the most important part ; and that t spirit 
return is for the purpose of enlightening man to 
the fact that there is more than the material things 
to be considered, and to show him the spiritual part 
of spiritualism. 

But I made a terrible mistake; I demonstrated 
spirit return; demonstrated the fact that the spirit 
can return, and yet I never thought of the spiritual 
part of it. I never considered for one moment 
that it is necessary for men to rise spiritually; I 
considered merely the fact that spirits could return 
and help man on the earth plane. I was wholly 
material and yet understood to a certain extent the 
laws which govern spirit communication. 

I am that man — I am that despicable character; 
but I ask for your assistance, and expect to receive 
it — shall I? I explained spirit return to men and 
women and never showed them that it is necessary 
for them to be spiritual. Confession? Why, it is 
more than that — it is a humiliation to come to you 
this way, and yet I thank the higher powers that 
I found the open door that allows me to come. 

Why do I come? Because I do not wish to al- 
ways remain an earthbound spirit, and I cannot 
rise unless I do some good, unless I help my fellow- 
men in some way. 

My God ! to think that I had a wonderful gift and 
wasted it upon material minds and material things 



232 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

and for material purposes. Oh! that I could live 
those last twenty years of my life over again — oh ! 
that I could. But seeing that I cannot, I ask that 
I may borrow your force, that I may borrow some 
of your time. Oh ! I pray that I may learn to rise 
and serve my fellow-men; that I may teach me- 
diums to aid in the upliftment of mankind. 

My soul is crushed with grief — Infinite Love re- 
quires service of me, and I am here to serve. It is 
because I come in the Light of Love that I can ask 
that I might serve, Infinite Love can touch me 
only by service — and I cannot expect to live and 
bask in the sunlight of pure Infinite Love until I 
have made myself worthy of this. 

So I have come in touch with the earth plane 
again — and it is in response to my desires that this 
has happened. Some time I will tell you more of 
my life and show you the outcome of wrong doing, 
wrong living, the outcome of wasted gifts and tal- 
ents, and then I know that I shall have done some 
good." 



(3.) 

(Object lesson on self-righteousness.) 

"Good evening, friends; I have come to save 
you; I have come to lift you out of the terrible 
grasp of Spiritualism. I have come to save you 
sinners — you are sinners because you have not 
faith in the Lord. 

"I am waiting for the great day of resurrection, 
when the trumpet shall sound and I shall see my 
Father in heaven — I am waiting for the great day 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 233 

when I shall be called. I have come back from the 
dead to tell you that you must rise. I have faith; 
I have prayed and prayed, and I knew that Jesus 
would meet me when I died." (A member of the 
class asked if he had met Him.) "Not yet, but I 
am waiting— I am waiting. All men must pray for 
their own souls; all men must ask for forgiveness. 
I was a righteous man; I never wronged any 
one — I am waiting for the great day when I shall 
rise and come into my own. God shall be my 
judge! I am a servant of the Lord." 

(Here he was asked if he had not learned some- 
thing about the laws of life "over there.") 
"Learn? I have nothing to learn; I know it all; 
and I am only waiting for my God to judge me 
and take me to my heavenly home that I have 
earned by prayer and faith. Oh, sinful men, come 
out of the iniquity of your sins — is there no chance 
for me to save your souls f I have earned my heav- 
enly home and I am waiting for the great day when 
I shall ascend and take my place in heaven — you 
are in the depths of darkness." 

("Is your mother over there?") "My mother 
waits with me for the great day. Do you know that 
you sin when you speak to me? Now, I am not 
judging you, I am here to help you. Unless you be- 
lieve, you cannot be saved — there is no salvation 
for any one who does not believe in Jesus; no sal- 
vation for any man who does not wash in the blood 
of Jesus." 

("Why do you not seek a knowledge of the 
truth, why wait around for the judgment day?") 
"Oh, hopeless sinner, you blaspheme when you 



234 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

speak thus. Oh, man of iniquity, arise and have 
faith; wash in the blood of the lamb." 

( ' ' Where is your family ? " ) "I left my wife and 
family because they objected to my praying; I left 
them because they were sinners. I could not 
save them — they were sinful because they had not 
faith. Hopeless sinners, may God save you. Eise 
brothers, come out of your iniquity — how can you 
speak to a righteous man? Oh! they fear not even 
the dead." 



(Explanation by the spirit teacher.) 

This manifestation or message demonstrated to 
you very clearly the effect of the individual thought 
upon the spirit or soul after death. It is very dif- 
ficult for the beginner to comprehend the benefits 
to be derived thru manifestation of the spirits upon 
these planes of thought, but I can tell you some- 
thing of what it means to the spirit who manifests 
thus. 

There are spirits (I will call them individuals) 
whose thoughts are so wholly imbedded with 
earthly vibrations that the spiritual part, after the 
corporeal body has gone, does not seem to illumi- 
nate because of the heavy earthy conditions sur- 
rounding it. These memories are vibrations, con- 
ditions they have builded by their thought, by their 
deeds and by their ambitions. 

And so a spirit who has reached a stage where it 
is possible for him to receive spiritual light, and 
yet who is so surrounded by the discord of earthly 
vibrations, can be more clearly illuminated by the 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 235 

spirits of men who are still inhabiting the mortal 
body. By coming in touch with spiritual minds in 
material bodies, the spiritual part of the disembod- 
ied individual becomes illuminated more quickly 
and can soar into a higher realm of thought, and 
leave on the earth plane the conditions which have 
hindered its progress. 

Those who have lived a life of dependency, lean- 
ing upon the idea that by the sacrifice of a mortal 
body their souls are saved, are in the most difficult 
position after leaving the body. More than those 
whose thoughts are wholly material, because there 
is a more independent soul in the minds who be- 
lieve that there is nothing after death. But he who 
depends upon a Savior finds himself in a harder 
position than do the broader minds, because they 
think if they pray, if they lean, that they shall rise. 
They do not attempt to bring forth the real self or 
to develop and remove the conditions they have 
builded about themselves. 

It is what they gather from your intelligence 
that helps them in their progression — the spoken 
words you give them are as naught to them. It is 
by coming in contact with mortal minds who are 
reaching out for more truth that they gather the 
light that will enable them to shake off the narrow 
thoughts and overcome the obstacles they have 
builded around them. 



(4.) 

(This manifestation proves that the saying, 
'Confession is good for the soul," is true.) 



236 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

1 ' Good day — this is some kind of a Hindoo meet- 
ing, isn't it? I am a dead man. I came from the 
United States, and I lived in Findley, Ohio, but I 
have not been there since I was seven years old. I 
froze to death in Colorado — I fell in the snow when 
driving the dogs (we had to take dogs with ns) ; I 
could not go any farther. I was looking around 
and hunting — I was not hunting for game, I was 
hunting for gold. 

"I want to tell you I have never been satisfied 
since I died. I did something. (What did you do?) 
You are brave now, but when I tell you what I did, 
you will not be brave. I never cared for church, I 
never cared for religion. I want to tell you that I 
killed a priest. I am not going to tell why I did 
it, and I am not going to say anything about him — 
he must tell that. 

"This is the first time I ever told of it — and oh, 
Lord, what a relief! It feels so good to tell you. 
That is the reason I came to go away. If you peo- 
ple prove up and do the square thing, I will tell you 
something; I will tell you where to find something. 

"Lord! it makes me feel good to tell you that — 
I will come again. They might find that man's 
bones some time. Yes, I have met him over here. 
The thing that is bothering me is that I can't kill 
that feeling of hate. I learned over here that if 
I could help some people on the earth plane not to 
hate that everything will be all right with me. Will 
you help me gain the victory — will you prove up? 
I am not here to tell you what you need. Good 
bye." 



EABTHBOUND SPIRITS 237 

(5.) 
(The result of leaning on Faith alone.) 

"Good evening, friends: Is there anything that 
you people can do for me? Why am I here? What 
is the idea? I am looking for God. I expected to 
meet Him when I died — what has happened to 
me?" (You have passed out of the body.) "If I 
have passed out of the body, where is God? That's 
what I want to know. Where's Jesus that I was to 
meet when I died? Something is wrong; there is 
a liar somewhere. Where's God? Where's Jesus? 

"Am I to understand that I am a dead man and 
you are all living? Then what am I here for? I 
don't know how I came here — what are you doing 
here?" (This is a Spiritualist gathering.) "A 
Spiritualist meeting! My God! forgive me for this. 
I thought I would meet Jesus and He would take 
me right to heaven.. 

"I think I must be having a nightmare. I 
dreamed that I saw them bury my body — I 
dreamed I saw my family around my body, and I 
heard them crying when my body was buried. 

"I have always served my fellow-man — I was al- 
ways a charitable man. I gave for charity once a 
month at least; I was a good man and a church 
member. I think the whole truth is I'm crazy — I 
see it now, we're all crazy. When I get well I will 
pray for you." 



(Spirit teacher explains.) 
"Now friends, the visitor who just spoke to you 
was the spirit of one who passed away believing 



238 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

that his soul would be saved because he had faith 
and believed the false doctrine or teaching which 
man has received for many years; the teaching 
which taught him to lean upon a Savior, and that 
by the blood of Jesus he would be saved. 

"The spirit of that man passed from the body 
believing that he would meet his Savior, believing 
that thru his faith all his past mistakes and so- 
called sins would be obliterated; but when he 
passed from the body he found that he has builded 
the conditions into which he passed, but until he 
awakens to this he is in a bewildered condition. 
He is spiritually in darkness as you are now phys- 
ically in this darkened room, and it is with great 
difficulty that the spirit teachers about him bring to 
his consciousness the fact that his debts are not 
wiped out, but that he has them yet to pay — that is 
the condition of the spirit who visited you just 
now." 

(6.) 

(From a disembodied soul who spent his time in 

the physical expression making up jokes.) 

"Well, will we ever get done living? I never 
started anything that I couldn't finish, but" I 
started to live and I find I will never get done liv- 
ing. Excuse me, friends, but everything is a joke 
if you look at it that way. That is the way I made 
my living; I amused people; I put my ability to 
see fun in everything to make money — I shot the 
fun to the other fellow, you see. But I tell you this 
dying and finding yourself more alive than ever is 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 239 

no joke. It is no joke to find a wasted life behind 
you — I realize now I'm just about starting— well, 
it's like riding on a merry-go-round and getting off 
at the starting place; it's like that when you die. 
If you did nothing while you lived on earth, you 
are getting off right at the starting place, and 
starting all over again — that's right. 

' ' Now, I am here and there is nothing I would like 
to do more than joke with you, but I've got to get 
down to good common sense now. They say if you 
die you don't have to make your living. You've 
got to live all right; but you've got to make your 
way — I tell you that. (Pause.) 

"I never thought I would come to this — being a 
spook in a spook meeting. But it is hard telling 
what a fellow will come to — being a spook in a 
spook meeting is no joke, I'll tell you that. " (A stu- 
dent asked him if he had been in a spook meeting.) 
"Well, I call this one — what's a dead man but a 
spook?" (Student answered that there was no such 
thing as a spook; that he was a spirit and not a 
spook.) 

"A thing is what it is, ain't it, no difference what 
you call it. A chair is a chair whether a Dutchman 
calls it a stool or something else, isn't it? Well, 
laying all jokes aside, this is a new experience for 
me; and I am ashamed of myself to think I got in 
here — to know that you people are sitting here for 
something worth while, and I ain't got it. 

"But I will tell you one thing that is true; I have 
no spiritual life; haven't any decent home over 
here because I never built anything but a material 
and worldly home. I can't get away from the earth 



240 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

plane (so they tell me) until I have built my home 
and that is by doing something worth while. 

"You know the first start I had to joking and 
fooling my time away was when I was a youngster ; 
I got mixed up with a medicine show — but my story 
doesn't amount to anything; only I want you to 
know how I started off — I spent all my time trying 
to make people laugh. Then when they had that 
new disease, "flu" trouble, I had it and passed over 
here — I don't know where I am, but I am not sat- 
isfied or contented. 

1 ' Now, if you will tell me why they brought me in 
here, I shall be glad. I was awfully discouraged, 
you know. I tell you you can't believe that the 
worst thing that ever happened to you is when you 
feel that you never die. I feel just like I was dead ; 
but, you never get done living. I met that man and 
he brought me in here, but I can't tell you why I 
am here. Well, I guess I better move on. 

(Student tells him that the class will help him 
out of his condition by sending him good thoughts, 
that they are sitting for that very purpose.) 

"Oh, I see now." 

(Tell us your name and we will think of you and 
ask that you progress spiritually; your coming in 
here shows us how we can help you.) 

"My name is or was C L . Now, if I 

hear you call my name, I will come here. Is that 
it?" 

(You will get our thoughts. We meet here only 
once a week, but when we are at home we will think 
of you during the day and evening — the same as 
you would say we pray — we think of your name 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 241 

and then ask for your spiritual progression, and 
think that you are not bad; that will help you to 
rise. You will find a beautiful home over there if 
you get to work and build it.) 

"That is what I want; guess I better move on 
then. Good bye." 



(7.) 
(The testimony of one who lived a selfish life.) 

"How do you do." 

(How do you do. God bless you. Have you 
come to talk to us, friend?) 

"Yes, but if you knew what it was to me to hear 
my voice the first time I said, 'How do you do', 
you'd be surprised; because I haven't heard my 
voice since — well, since I was the same as you 
are. ' ' 

(How long is that, friend?) 

"Oh, a couple of weeks ago — Christmas Eve I 
passed away." 

(It is longer than two weeks. This is the 26th of 
May; but time doesn't seem as long to you as it 
does to us.) 

"Time — oh, I don't know — it's the funniest thing 
to me. Every day is the same. Do you understand 
that? Every day is just the same. I cannot say 
that I am happy; but I don't know why I am not 
happy; I'm all right; there is lots to do. There are 
lots of friends, but they always seem to be inter- 
ested in somebody else besides me. I suppose that 
is because I never was interested in anybody else 
but myself, so now nobody is interested in me. 



242 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

""Well, it is all of my own making. I guess I 
haven't much right to object to it, but it seems 
kind of nice to come in here and see good people 
and have them welcome me. I was not much of a 
hand to welcome any one — I was a selfish man, but 
I did not know it — I was hypnotized by myself. Do 
you see what I mean? I was first in everything as 
far as I was concerned, and I am only beginning to 
find that out, it seems. All my friends rush over 
to me, they all speak to me in a casual way, then 
go right on their way — they all have other inter- 
ests. 

"Just a little while before I came in here, I went 
some place, I don't know where, but I was talking 
to a man who said to me, 'Did it ever occur to you 
that you never were interested in anybody but 
yourself?' I said that I never thought that way. 
'Well,' he said, 'look back over your life and think 
who came first with you.' Well, I began to think 
about it and found that it was myself. So here I 
am, everybody is busy and interested in somebody, 
but no one is interested in me." 

(Well, we are interested in you and want to 
help you.) 

"Yes, that is a funny thing, too. When I came 
in here and heard your voice sounding natural like 
I had been used to hearing just before Christmas, a 
feeling came over me that if I can help some other 
person to get away from this horrible selfish feel- 
ing, I will try to do it. Now, don't think I am a 
terrible thing — I never stole anything or anything 
like that, but I was just selfish. The hardest thing 
I had to do was to acknowledge that I did some- 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 243 

thing that was not just right; I tell you right now 
that was a hard thing for me to do; but I don't 
want you to feel sorry for me; just give me a 
chance. Now, what can I do for you? Why did 
that man say, 'Go in there and you will find a way 
to do something'? He said, 'Go in and talk to 
those people if you want to do something for some- 
body else.' So here I am — what can I do for 
you?" 

("We are all selfish, more or less; we are the 
same as you were.) 

"Well, now look here — I have watched several 
people pass away since I died and their friends 
greet them and they go flying away with their 
friends who make everything pleasant for them. I 
did not get that — I see what it is now — those peo- 
ple were always thinking about others, not them- 
selves, and so it has turned around the other way. 

"Well, they said that I could do something; but 
I don't know any more about this coming back to 
earth and doing something than you know about 
coming over here and doing something. Now you 
have something on your hands — you have me. What 
am I going to do? 

(What is your name, friend?) 

"Well, I was no great man. Isn't it customary 
when you come back to meetings like this to say 
you are some great person? 

(No, we just want your name so we can send you 
a thought.) 

"I am here in truth, that's all. My name was 
W. B. H., a plain everyday man who thought only 



244 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

about himself, but I wish to heavens I had thought 
about somebody else. 

"Now, if I can do anything for you, or you can 
do anything for me — now, what do you think of 
that? Here I wanted you to do something for me 
again, do you see? Friends, I guess I will have to 
learn how to come back to help somebody — just to 
help. 

(You are helping us — you have given us a won- 
derful lesson tonight — a lesson to every one of us.) 

"Well, in the name of God, every one of you, if 
that will help you, take it home. For I surely did 
not do that to help myself — I did that to help you. 

"Now, I am going to tell you something else. Is 
there any allotted time? Well, just let me know if 
I overstay my time. I had a very peculiar expe- 
rience right after death. I lost a little girl ; that is, 
she passed away about six years before I did; and 
I rebelled against God and everything good be- 
cause that child was taken away. The fact of the 
matter was I gave up all hope and thought that 
there was no God. 

"When I passed away (you can believe me or 
not — I am telling the truth) that child met me and 
I went thru a peculiar passage way. It seemed like 
a dark, heavy condition; I was conscious to the 
very end — I never lost consciousness. (If any of 
you have ever had a high fever and became a little 
unbalanced, you will know how I felt.) I thought 
that I was in that condition when I saw the child 
and she took me by the hand. Literally speaking, 
she took me by the hand and led me thru a dark 
passage where I seemed smothered. It seemed to 



EAETHBOUND SPIRITS 245 

me that I couldn't breath; the room was so stuffy; 
it was a peculiar experience. Finally I came to 
where I breathed freely and everything seemed 
light, then my little daughter said, 'Papa, I will 
have to leave you now, for a little time, but you 
are safe on another shore, and this is Louisa.' 

"Well, I knew it was Louisa, but I thought I was 
delirious; then I saw myself apparently in a mir- 
ror, and I have been in that peculiar state ever 
since. Good night." 



(8.) 

(Another object lesson on selfishness brought by 

the teachers to one of the classes.) 

(Teacher) Now, my friends, be not alarmed 
for we are about to bring into your midst one 
whose every thought is of himself. So please send 
to him the thought of compassion and love; send 
to him the strong support that he shall rise and 
serve ; that he shall bear no malice towards any of 
his brothers. He has passed from the body so re- 
cently that he hardly realizes that he has gone from 
the earth plane. Do not be alarmed, but know that 
you are all protected. He is being brought to you 
as an object lesson to show you the condition one is 
in when holding all selfish thoughts. He needs 
your help and perhaps he will return to you some 
time an enlightened soul.) 



"No, I am not a murderer; I had a right to kill 
him if I wanted to. Self-preservation is the first 
law of nature, isn't it? I'm not afraid of anybody. 



246 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

(Class tries to assure him of their good 
thoughts.) 

"I do not want anything from you — you do not 
have to send me anything; I'm all right. What are 
you all doing here anyway?" 

(This is a research class, and we are holding 
these meetings to help you — tell us your experi- 
ence, friend.) 

"I am not here to entertain you." 

(Don't you realize that you are in the spirit 
world?) 

"I am not in the spirit world — I am satisfied and 
glad of it. Why, that man was in my way, and I 
killed him; I was perfectly justified in doing it. 
Why, didn't I tell you that self-preservation is the 
first law of nature? And I preserved myself 
against him. I don't care." 

(Why, you should care, friend — don't you want 
to progress spiritually and be happy?) 

"Happy? Why, there is no such word as 
'happy.' That makes me sick — the old woman 
used to go around saying 'happy — happy, happy.' 

(There is such a thing if you seek for it.) 

' c Ah, look out for yourselves." 

(Tell us your name, friend.) 

"I didn't want to come in here. How did I get 
in here? Say, look here — I'm having a little 
trouble — now the trouble is with my head; but I 
don't want any one to help me — no one ever helped 
me but what I had to help them. Well, this trouble 
I got with my head — oh, I see what you are here 
for — this is a medical staff — what are you going to 
do with me?" 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 247 

(We all have kind thoughts for you, friend.) 

"I want to tell you something — my body is all 
numb. Why, say, look here — now, wait a minute — 
wait a minute. Where are you people?" 

(We are in Buffalo, New York.) 

"Well, how did I get here? I see, they decided 
not to bury my body. Now, the last thing I re- 
member they talked about doing away with me be- 
cause they said, 'the fellow was dead'; but I do not 
know how I got in here. I want you to tell me 
what to do for my head; I must have been uncon- 
scious — but they were talking about burying my 
body. Where is Mary? Mary! where are you? 

"Oh, I see now; they got me in an insane asylum; 
I don't know how they got me here, but I was not 
that bad off. Save me! Save me! For God's sake, 
don't tell Mary that I killed Jim! 

"Hold on, you crazy people; let me tell you 
something — look out for yourselves.' ' 

(Friend, would you like to hear our motto?) 

"Oh, you're crazy — man has no motto. Where is 
the doctor that belongs to this place? There is 
numbness in my body — that's what's the matter. 
Oh, Lord, deliver me from this insane asylum." 

(Listen, friend, we are sitting here to hear from 
those who have gone before — this is not an insane 
asylum; we are trying to help you. You have 
passed out of your physical body — where did you 
expect to go when you died?) 

"When I died I expected to be dead, that's all." 

(That is the reason you feel as you do. When 
did you have this trouble with this Jim that you 
talk about?) 



248 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

"How long? Why, say, that is as fresh in my 
mind as if it happened yesterday. Lord, man, that 
was before I married Mary. My God ! There he 
is — there he is." 



(Teacher) Now, my friends, this lesson will 
leave a deep and strong impression npon you. This 
is the soul of one whose every thought was of him- 
self and his comfort; one who has measured all 
things by the good he would realize from it; one 
who in the earlier years of his life had even gone 
so far as to remove from that plane of expression 
one who was a hindrance to him in his selfish ambi- 
tions. But you have helped him to realize some- 
thing of this — not by your spoken words, but by 
your spiritual thoughts, and by reaching out to 
help him you had no selfish thoughts. 

Now I will explain to you very briefly the good 
that comes from bringing a soul so recently out of 
the physical body into your midst. The lesson 
helps you to get more clearly the effect upon some 
souls whose entire physical and material thoughts 
are of themselves, those who have been sleeping, 
because their thoughts have been limited and 
within themselves; therefore to lift them out of 
the physical vibration it is well that they come into 
a circle of thought, where the consciousness of 
each is lifted up to the spiritual plane of thought; 
and in bringing this soul in touch with your physi- 
cal body he can ascend on your spiritual thought 
vibration as they are right out of the physical 
realms. This is the good that has come to him and 
the object lesson is a wonderful help to you. 



EAETHBOUND SPIRITS 249 

However, it is not well for those of you sitting 
alone in small groups to draw those to you or at- 
tempt to do missionary work, because it requires a 
strong thought force to protect you. Much more 
is to be gathered from this lesson — it is a part of 
the foundation of the great work which it is our 
pleasure and duty to bring before you. 

Now, we will take the second stanza of your rules 
— "To practice in my daily life forgiveness and 
forbearance, and upon every provocation to repeat 
mentally the Golden Rule." So practice in your 
daily life, forgiveness and forbearance. 



(9.) 
(The harvest of misapplied mediumship.) 

"Dear friends, it is in the name of God, truth 
and love, I come, yea, tho I walk in the valley of 
the shadow of death, I penetrate the veil which 
obstructs the narrow pathway twixt your world 
and mine. 

"I have come, friends, by permission of your won- 
derful teachers to tell you of the blessings or the 
curses of mediumship. During my material life 
I was what you in the present day call a medium, 
altho I knew it not; I had great and wonderful 
experiences. 

"Mediumship, friends, is either constructive or 
destructive, and it is almost, I dare say, as you 
will it. If you allow your mediumship to cause 
you to be used by evil forces, is it not true it will 
be and is destructive? It is a sacred thing — a most 
dangerous mission — and at the same time it might 



250 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

be a very helpful condition for you and all those 
who are attracted to you by it. 

"Ah! have I not learned much thru sad experi- 
ences since coming into this world? I found my- 
self alone, in darkness, because those forces with 
whom I had worked now needed me not; they cast 
me aside for another victim. I will tell you of 
some of my experiences while in your life ; hoping 
they will be an object lesson to you and others who 
are attempting to develop mediumistic powers. 

"When I was a child some ten years of age I 
realized that I had some magnetic power to draw 
to myself some one I wished by concentrating my 
thought on them. I often saw visions which others 
present saw not, and I related to them what I saw. 
People became very much interested in me and 
they would say, "What do you see now, boy?" 
And I would tell them; but many times when they 
asked me what I saw I became enthusiastic and 
would tell them I saw things which I did not. 
Friends, there grew upon me an ability to tell 
falsehoods more easily than to tell the truth — but 
I did not realize that I was drawing unto me like 
forces. 

"My soul and conscience told me I was sinning, 
yet I heeded them not. Then I would sit and at- 
tract this one and that one to me by concentration. 
I also used my mediumship for immoral purposes, 
for thievery and even murder. I used one of the 
most sacred gifts for the building of Hades or hell. 
I could tell you of many wrongs I committed thru 
my mediumship — and the tearing down of a beauti- 
ful soul which nature had given me. 



BARTHBOUND SPIRITS 251 

"When late in life I stepped into the beyond, 
whence came darkness, whence came sin which I 
had nourished up in my soul; there I found all 
those who had helped me in crime had deserted me. 
Alone I stood in darkness — but I had to move on; 
I could not stand it — and after years and years 
and years thru the mercy of Nature I am per- 
mitted to come into your midst. Will you let me 
help you influence others? 

' ' Tho I now walk in the valley of light, many many 
years have I walked in the shadow of death. I 
plead with you to save the little children who show 
they have in them magnetic power, mediumship. 
Friends, hear this soul crying from another life — 
be true, be moral, be righteous, that you may not 
find the shadow of death, but the light of death. 

"Brothers and sisters, I call you this because I 
am your brother, I want to say, let us work to- 
gether. Let me tell you just one more word — 
there is work for you to do. Help to teach the 
multitude how to close the door to the lower 
realms; help to close that door, and reach out and 
help to hold open the door to the higher realms. 

"There is no end to the teaching of truth; there 
is no end to perfection. Investigate the truth, and 
the more you walk in the path of light and gather 
the fragments of truth the larger grows the path 
and the brighter the field — and this is yours, all of 
it yours — are you going to leave this field untrod- 
den until you have discarded your bodies? Do not 
think that you must live today to prepare for a 
future day only, but live to make the today a 
glorious one. Scatter seeds of kindness and watch 



252 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

them grow; do a kind deed and stand and watch 
the glorious effect of it. Send out a kind thought, 
and listen, and you will hear its return. Is this 
not heaven? To the spirit this is heaven; but the 
sins of the individual, and all the malice that comes 
from his bitterness, to the sensitive soul this is hell. 

1 ' Injure your fellow-man and feel coming back to 
you the vibration from that injury. Hell? Aye, 
worse than man's material conception of hell. 
Know that it is worth your while to build a heaven ; 
and to tear down that much of hell which you have 
already builded. 

"May you know the glories of heaven, and may 
you never feel the pangs of hell. ' ' 



(10.) 

(A conversation with one who did not know that he 
had passed from the physical body.) 

"Do you know that hymn, 'It is well with my 
soul,' and will you sing it for me, please?" (After 
the hymn was sung, the voice continued.) "I al- 
ways liked that hymn." (A long pause.) "That 
was the funniest thing — I was walking along here, 
and — I don't know just how it happened — I slipped 
and fell on my gun. I haven't been quite right 
ever since. Part of the time I am home with the 
folks, and the other part of the time I am dream- 
ing. As I came in here a man out there told me 
something. He said that I am not dreaming at all, 
but that the time the gun went off it didn't make 
me crazy; I died and they buried my body. Now. 
I don't know whether his words are true or not — 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 253 

what do you people think about it? Oh, I see, I'm 
just having one of those dreams again." 

(A student told him that he was not dreaming, 
and that he was coming into a realization that he 
had passed out of the body.) "You mean that I 
died? "Well, that accounts for the conversation 1 
had with my mother — I remember that dream — 
why! there's mother now. Are you people — well, 
there's mother again; now she's gone. Oh, I must 
be dreaming again; I've been at that ever since I 
fell on that gun." 

(A student asked if the folks at home saw him 
when he was there.) "Of course, I know when I'm 
home they never see me; I know why that is — but 
I am happy at home. I know I will be all right 
some time. I was out there one night and I saw 
my sister — she died when I was a little tot — in my 
dreams she had grown up — she tells me I am in 
another world ; but, you know there is no place like 
home to me. I always feel happy when I am hav- 
ing those dreams. She told me they were going to 
take me some place where they were going to make 
everything clear to me. It's a funny thing — I'm 
always dreaming about dead folks — a funny thing. 
They seem natural when they talk to me, but when 
I come to and am back home again, I know I am 
out of my mind; that is why they don't pay any 
attention to me at home. 

"Say, what are you people doing here?" 

(A student answered that they were there to 
help him come into a realization that he had passed 
thru the experience called death.) 

"Now, I am here to settle that question — when I 



254 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

am at home the folks are natural but they don't 
pay any attention to me, but I understand that 
part; they think I tried to kill myself." 

(Another student told him that they could not 
see him, and that was why they did not pay any 
attention to him.) 

"They never let on they see me. I met a good 
man out here and he told me that I died. Well, 
now I see you are all standing around in rings — 
you know that convinces me that I am dreaming. 
I had to talk in a ring and then in another ring and 
then another; that surely is a dream, there is no 
sense to that." 

(Here he was asked if he ever ate anything now.) 

"No, — say, that is right, I haven't eaten any- 
thing for a long time." 

(Do you feel the need of it?) 

"Say, I never thought about that; I haven't been 
eating or wanting to eat for a long time. ' ' 

(When you are around the home do you not real-, 
ize that the people don't know that you are there!) 

"Oh, they never pay any attention to me, but I 
know why." 

(They don't see you, that is why.) 

"They don't see me? Well, hold on now, this 
eating business strikes me as rather a funny thing. 
I never thought about eating; might be something 
to that business — maybe I am dead." 

(Yes, you are living in another expression now.) 

"Are you trying to tell me that the dream part 
of my life is the right one; and the other is just 
when I get twisted in the dates?" 

(The dream part is the real part and when you 



EARTHBOUND SPIRITS 255 

get home you are attracted there because of your 
physical memories.) 

"The dream part is the right one and the other 
part ain't — is that right?" 

(Yes, you can take it that way — you are in an- 
other expression of life now.) 

"Well, it is hard to tell who is your friend, but 
I'll tell you folks something. When anything both- 
ered me and didn't please me, I was always threat- 
ening to kill myself — just when things didn't go my 
way. I used to hunt a good deal — I did fall on that 
gun; I didn't kill myself, but they made out that 
I tried to kill myself — they thought I tried to do it 
because I was out of my mind. A part of the time 
I feel that I am at home; I feel better there than 
anywhere else; I am all right when I am home. 
There goes mother now — do you see her? Once in 
awhile I get talking with her and during that time 
I am perfectly natural. But I always had a dread 
of being crazy, and I always used to think that 
some time I surely would go crazy; and I thought 
that had just happened since I fell on my gun. 
(Pause.) Now, I did die that time all right, is 
that it?" 

(Yes, that is right. And so the fact that you al- 
ways thought you would go insane has left a strong 
reflection on your mind, for every thought you send 
out into the universe lives and those thoughts you 
sent out are now returning to you.) 

"I always had that thought — my grandfather 
lost his mind. I used to hear mother say, 'Them 
things skip a generation; I believe some one in my 
family will go crazy.' (Pause.) Makes me think I 



256 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

did talk to that old man. Are you in the dream 
part, or where am I?" 

(We are in the flesh body and are talking to you 
in the spirit body. The reason you have talked 
thru those circles, rings as you expressed it, is be- 
cause we could not hear you without those circles 
— they make the condition in which you can talk to 
us so that we can hear you. You have passed out 
of your flesh body and whenever you see your 
mother you see her in the next expression and that 
is in the same that you are. Get in touch with her 
and she will explain everything to you.) 

"I suppose that is the reason I feel the way I do 
here. Say, did you ever see people or fat meat 
float? I can't keep right here because I keep rising 
up all the time — another one of my crazy ideas, I 
suppose." 

(You are not crazy. You know we can't see you.) 

"You don't see me. Is this a blind institution or 
something like that?" 

(No, friend, we can see in the physical sense, but 
we cannot see those who are in spirit. The reason 
that we can hear your voice is because of the par- 
ticular powers of our medium, and those outer cir- 
cles of spirits help, too.) 

"You mean circles of vibration? Is this a wire- 
less field or something?" 

(It is on that principle, but not exactly that.) 

"Well, I have a feeling that you are wrong arid 
that I am right — it may be I am not — my name is 

J F and I live in Clare County, Pa. If 

you are right and I am wrong, I will come back; 
but if I am crazy, you will never hear from me." 



EARTHB0UND SPIRITS 257 

(God bless you — you will come back — we will 
send you our good thoughts.) 
"Thank you — thank you — good bye." 



(11.) 

(A soul waiting to be judged.) 

"Good evening. I just thought I would come in 
for a meeting. You are sitting to talk to the dead? 
Well, I'm one of them. I am a dead man, but I 
guess you are not aware of this." 

(We know that you are not dead because there 
are no dead. Your body is dead, but you are not? 
How are you getting along over there, friend?) 

"Over there? You know I am dead? I have 
been waiting for a time." 

(For what have you been waiting?) 

"I don't know myself; it is not quite clear to 
me as yet." 

(How long have you been over there?) 

"Over there? You mean over here. I am dead, 
but I am here." 

(Well, how long is it since you died?) 

"About half an hour." 

(Where did you live?) 

"Up in Duluth." 

(Do you know where you are now?) 

"Yes, I'm dead." 

(Do you know the name of this town?) 

"I'm not in town, I'm in the graveyard. You 
come down here every night to talk to the dead — I 
know. ' ' 



258 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

(Have you ever heard of spirit communion be- 
fore? This is a Spiritualist meeting.) 

"I'm not at any Spiritualist meeting, I am in 
the graveyard, and you sit out here every night to 
talk to the dead." 

(No, friend, you are here in the house with us; 
just look around and see the things in this room — 
this is not a graveyard. Don't you hear the mu- 
sic? (Victrola was playing.) 

''Yes, I hear music. St. Cecilia often plays for 
us. You are sitting here to talk to the dead peo- 
ple in the graveyard." 

(Say, friend, just get away from that grave ) 

"Oh, no, I won't. It is my own grave — six feet 
— it is paid for — and my own — all I got left, and 
I'll stay right here." 

(Friend, can't you realize the fact that you are 
not in a graveyard, but right in this room; in the 
city of Buffalo?) 

"Don't lie to me — I am on my own grave; I am 
not bothering anybody." 

(We are not lying to you, friend. You came 
here that we might help you come into a realization 
of the truth. We are here to study the laws of life 
after death. You have had the change called 
death; and your spirit is here in this room. Look 
around you and you will see that we are sitting in 
a circle in the dark. Can you see this white table?) 

"Yes, that white thing you call a table is a tomb- 
stone." 

(Friend, do you think that we are dead?) 

"No, I know you are not." 



EABTHBOUND SPIRITS 259 

(Do you know that the living can speak to the 
so-called dead?) 

"Yes." 

(How did you happen to find that out?) 

"Because I have been talking to you people; I 
have been talking to people since I died. I am a 
good soul ; I am only waiting here for some one to 
come and take me to be judged; I don't want to 
make any trouble." 

(The class tried in various ways to convince this 
soul that he was not in a graveyard, but failed to 
make any impression. Finally he was asked to give 
his name that they might send him a good thought 
and say a prayer for him.) 

"Oh, I don't need your prayers; St. Bartholo- 
mew will come for me, so I will wait here — this is 
consecrated ground. Oh, I will be all right; I left 
money for masses, I am not worrying about that. I 
will tell you the name I used to have, but don't 
say any Protestant prayers for me. My name was 
P M ." 



(The last lesson is explained by a spirit teacher.) 

"This man had practically no education but a 
religious one. He realized he was passing away; 
he knew when death approached and so had all the 
rites of his Church performed. All those in spirit 
whom he knew and loved came to meet him but he 
did not see them. 

Now we will present it to you thus: Were you 
ever searching for one person, going into a great 
crowd of people where many were familiar to you, 



260 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

yet you saw none of them until you saw that famil- 
iar face for which you were searching? This is the 
condition he was in — not having seen the man 
whom he calls a guiding angel, or patron saint, and 
the one to whom he prayed to intercede for him 
with God (he calls him St. Bartholomew) he is still 
waiting for him to appear. The last place that he 
felt his loved ones came with him was to the cem- 
etery. The bodies he saw were there; and all the 
bodies he has seen since are not physical, they are 
astral bodies. There are many of them-dn the cem- 
eteries and about the graves, and he sees them; 
for many are waiting as he is. 

He having that strong mental condition im- 
pressed upon his brain, believes that you were cir- 
cled about him in the cemetery. He saw only your 
astral bodies ; he saw no material objects ; he could 
not have seen your physical bodies. 

He is a good man but not in the true light of 
life after death. He is waiting until a particular 
saint comes to him to bear him away to his judg- 
ment; that which he calls his particular judgment 
is when he individually will meet his God and be 
judged. He believes that later there will be a gen- 
eral judgment when all mankind will be judged; 
and so continues in that thought because he has 
lived up, in so far as he knew, to his religious teach- 
ings. He firmly believes that he will be taken away 
by that particular saint, and so he is waiting. 

"We brought him to you tho he was not conscious 
of ever having left that place; at no time has he 
left that grave in his thought, tho he has been 
borne away to different places, they do not record 



EAETHBOITND SPIRITS 261 

upon his mind while he is holding that positive 
thought. That one particular thing for which he 
waits occupies his mind, and many times he con- 
verses with other souls about him, but they are all 
pretty much in the same realm of thought. Mis- 
sionaries who go there have passed by him for a 
time, for his experience will enable him to help 
others who are on their graves and experiencing 
the same earthy conditions. 

Therefore, he will wait and wait for a time, but 
eventually there will come to him an illumination 
within his consciousness. He is not compelled to 
be there, he desires to be there and he is contented, 
very contentedly waiting. He is a man who be- 
lieved that mere belief and faith would save him, 
no matter what he did or how he lived. 

The lessons that we are desirous of conveying, 
and make clear to you, are that your lives, your 
deeds, and the way you live have to do with your 
future life. Your own consciousness is your guide, 
your own consciousness is your judge, and will re- 
veal to you the way to go. The object lessons are 
brought to you from the various conditions in 
which we find souls over here that the relation of 
their stories will reveal to you clearly a lesson, 
which can be more closely conceived by man in the 
flesh than the words we might speak to you. 

It is not to show you any particular faith or be- 
lief, but to show you the narrow teachings of relig- 
ion which confine the mind of man to that particu- 
lar doctrine and give the soul no individual free- 
dom to search for himself and find his own environ- 
ments spiritually. We desire to show you by the 



262 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

souls who have experienced death the effects of 
wrong doing, wrong living and the effect of de- 
pending upon another's thought; the effect of lean- 
ing upon belief and faith. 

We urge you to live right, and to do right, and to 
guard your thoughts, for your mind is a reflector 
between the great source of ALL GOOD and you. 
Cultivate the spirit within you, and all the finer 
qualities builded thru unselfishness will make for 
you a better soul's home. In your time of concen- 
tration send forth a silent prayer for the speedy 
illumination of these earthbound souls. 

The condition one finds over here does not de- 
pend upon his faith or belief, but upon his life and 
the wonderful power within him to think." 



CHAPTER X. 
WHITHER ARE YOU GOING? 

When man has gained the knowledge of spirit re- 
turn, it is well that he knows that there are within 
him two distinct forces, constructive and destruc- 
tive, and that he cultivates the constructive and 
uses the knowledge for good, because he is going 
to meet those conditions some time, somewhere — 
and when he goes on and on to that dark day of 
his physical expression, when the physical body is 
thru and the spirit is about to cast it aside, where 
is he going? Where are you going? 

Every one of you are going to meet this experi- 
ence, this is the one thing you cannot avoid — some 
time your physical body is going back to earth — 
but where are you going? 

You are going into your own little heaven, or 
into your own hell, that which you have builded, 
and if it is true and all that it seems to be, it will 
be lovely, but if it is not what it seems to be, where 
are you going! You have to meet the conditions 
which have been builded by you; you cannot get 
away from them; nothing will lift you out until 
you have worked thru all the conditions you have 
builded. 

If you build a hell you are going there just as 
truly as you are living in the flesh — it is not a 



264 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

place, a man can live in hell in the flesh ; men are 
doing it every day, whose consciences are burning 
their very lives out; they live in a hell so big it 
reaches them before they leave the body. 

Thru it all they have got to go and serve and 
build and purify and make *for themselves that 
which it is possible for them to do here; and if 
they build a heaven only, they will never cease to 
build more and more of it; they will see and know 
love. 

The thought force thru which you manifest is 
the greatest builder ever manifested upon the 
earth, or anywhere else. All things are born of 
thought. Nothing manifests itself to man without 
first being thought because it always first expresses 
itself as thought. 

And so when you stand upon the brink of the 
"goodbye" of today, when you turn to say good- 
bye to all the memories of the flesh, when you lay 
aside that, where are you going? 

The spirit returns to urge you to stop building 
hells — stop it — it is time that you cultivate the con- 
structive and spiritual self. Even when you build 
a hell and no man knows it, and you may think 
that another's hand is doing it, 'tis you are the 
one who is building it, and it is yours and you will 
be cast into it. 

Oh, friends, let us build heavens, let us make 
heaven all about us, then those who return and 
manifest will be in heaven, will come thru the pow- 
erful light of purity and spiritual thought to re- 
ceive those who are good. 

Your mother loves you — are you going to ask 



WHITHER ARE YOU GOING? 265 

her to return from that other life, to walk thru 
hell to come to you? Men are doing it every day, 
and some of them call themselves spiritual, but 
they are asking their loved ones to come thru hell 
because that is all they have builded about them. 

When you tell an untruth (you might have said 
it out of the lightness of your heart with no 
thought of what might come of it) and some one 
repeats it and colors it a little, and then another 
repeats it with another little color added — and 
when you step out of your flesh body and see the 
great rope of it — a cable — and where it has reached 
and what it has done, is not that a judgment? 
And when you do another an injury, perhaps coax 
one into some undesirable place — you say, "Just 
this once will not matter," and you urge and you 
finally win, and that friend goes with you. Per- 
haps you do not go again, but that friend goes re- 
peatedly and gets others to go with him — and when 
you are lifted out of the physical expression, you 
see it, you pay the price. 

Therefore, never ask one to do anything that 
your inner conscience would say was not best to 
do. If for no other reason — you should not do it 
for the reason that it is wrong; if that is not rea- 
son enough, then for this reason — that some time 
you will rise into spirit and you will see and know 
what has come of it. 

Then there are the efforts to do good which pass 
thru the same law — they will grow and multiply 
and you will meet them, too, but they are cheering 
and helpful. But with those things which are not 
good, it is not so much your individual sin, as it 



266 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

is what you have caused others to do. He who 
commits a sin against himself can overcome this 
himself. He will have his struggles — if it is an 
appetite for strong drink, his suffering will be in- 
describable ; he will be drawn to people in the flesh 
who drink intoxicants; he will have no thought for 
anything else for a time, until the stronger spir- 
itual part of him is awakened and he is touched 
by the Holy Ghost, then he can overcome it.. 

Any habit that a man might have, if the sin is 
against himself, he finds that it creeps along with 
him, the physical memories will be so strongly 
about him, they will hold him for a time. And if 
that sin has touched others, has influenced others, 
he will see and he will conceive of it — he will know 
that judgment is ever and ever within and about 
him. He need not wait for judgment, he is going 
to take it right along with him and thru his con- 
sciousness, thru the clear vision of spirit, he is 
going to be judged and he is going to know it be- 
cause he will see truth and justice, for they are 
the qualities of God, and only thru those qualities 
will he see. 

He will be compelled thru the law of nature to 
judge himself thru Justice and Truth — and he can- 
not know himself or his life otherwise. 

Yes, indeed, you have a judgment and you have 
a trial, and none so well as you shall know — and 
the good things which have come from you will re- 
flect upon you and aid you in your soul's growth. 
And anything which has come from you that has 
cast a shadow will continue with you until you 



WHITHER ARE YOU GOING? 267 

have made that shadow an illumination for the 
souls around you. 

Souls are drawn by that natural law to their 
own thought realm — what you make, you step into 
it — and no man can judge you at that time but you 
thru the great eye of spirit — thru Truth and Jus- 
tice you shall indeed be judged, by your own con- 
science. 

You are building your future home now — make 
your life such that when you visualize thru Truth 
and Justice, you will not be filled with horror, but 
happiness. 

Do you know that you can pay your debts while 
in the physical expression? Today is the time to 
tear down the things which will make for you a 
hell, and build the glorious heaven of which you 
often dream. 

Man is beginning to realize that many things are 
coming into the light now, that a new day is com- 
ing and the one question he asks is, "Is there re- 
ally a hell? Is there a place of torment?" Hell 
is not a place as man in the mortal expression 
would believe it to be. But tell me, is there or can 
there be more of a hell than a man's remorse — 
than the conscience of a man who has sinned — 
when his conscience awakes to the terrible realiza- 
tion of the wrong he has done? 

When man has left his mortal body his con- 
science is keener, his sense of right and wrong is 
stronger — his conscience is all that he has, and he 
meets the burning memories of all the wrongs he 
has done. Can there be more of a hell than this? 
And this, ah, this is what they will surely find — 



268 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

for so surely as they sin, that debt will have to^be 
paid. 

To every man and woman will come the day 
when they will find their physical body gone, and 
all that they have before them will be the things of 
the sonl. And, oh, how one suffers when he sees 
the good spirits reaching out to him to help him, 
but they cannot reach him because the things about 
him have been of himself, the things he has builded 
in selfishness. These things all return to him — it 
is the law of compensation. 

(The following is the testimony of a soul who 
came to one of the Circles of Light.) 

"Listen to me — I have experienced death; I 
have experienced the pangs and sufferings of a 
man who existed in selfishness. I know why I 
stand here before you tonight trying to serve you. 
I want to tell you that now is the time to serve 
your fellow-man; or else the time will come when 
you will find a great difficulty in returning to the 
earth plane to undo the things you did there, or to 
do the things which you left undone. 

"Oh! that I might impress upon you the effects, 
the fruits of a sinful life! I implore you to scat- 
ter seeds of kindness everywhere." 



As man begins to realize mentally, he unfolds 
spiritually and closely allied with his life upon the 
mortal plane are things which he can only discern 
thru spirit, things which he can only feel thru 
spirit. 

Touching your earth plane today there is a large 
flood of spiritual light; but man knows not what 



WHITHER AEE YOU GOING? 269 

it is. Light is coming upon his brain with such 
wondrous force that he cannot comprehend it be- 
cause he has not reached a plane of thought 
wherein it is possible for him to grasp it. He has 
not developed spiritually enough to see the light. 
Those rays are too bright. 

It is a psychological change which is taking place 
on the mortal plane and man must pass thru it, 
and man will be its master; and then he will come 
into a realization of all those things that are to be 
borne into expression upon the mortal plane of 
which man's mind has not yet conceived — because 
all things which come into expression on the earth 
plane are first formed in the spirit world and then 
expressed in the mortal. And as the law perfects 
itself and man becomes more and more fitted for 
those things which are for him, he will see clearly 
wherein he is deficient. 

All life is first born into spirit — eternity, with no 
end; things that live shall always be, and so things 
have always been that live. As the circle has no 
end, life has no end — there is or was no beginning 
— it is a perfect circle, and as man in his growth 
continues to build, his circle continues to grow and 
to reach into higher light. Over and over, time 
and time and time, that man can never reckon, soul 
substance has been; soul substance has been eter- 
nally. There is no limit to the soul of man, for it 
is a part of the CAUSE — an emanation of the un- 
caused CAUSE — beyond the grasp of mortal 
man's mentality because as yet he is clothed in 
mortal thoughts. 

Soul matter existed, does exist and shall exist 



270 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

always. It is (to bring a clearer conception of this 
to you) a reflection of the spirit — it is a quality of 
the spirit, and when the flesh body, in the embry- 
onic state, reaches that stage of development which 
man calls the "quickening," it is then that soul 
matter is united and brought in direct touch with 
the physical temple in the preparation — 'tis then 
the spirit, the spark of life, enters into and about 
that body in preparation. 

Soul matter exists in the atmosphere around you 
— it is a vibration of light — it is the effect of inter- 
mingled thought vibrations — it is the emanation of 
the overruling power of God's spirit. 

Before the individualization of that portion of 
spirit which becomes the individual, it is all 
thought, all cause, all power, all element; yet it is 
higher than mortal mind. At the time of "quick- 
ening" (not conception) a particular portion of the 
spirit force is individualized; and as the portion 
of spirit power or matter becomes individualized, 
it is intermingled with material vibrations and 
mortal thought vibrations of the father and 
mother. 

Thus many spirits in their progression are hin- 
dered while in the mortal body because of many 
deficiencies and hindrances which were given to 
them prenatally, and which are caused by the im- 
perfections of the spirit or soul of the father and 
mother. But these will be overcome as man pro- 
gresses and develops spiritually; and as man be- 
comes more and more enlightened there will be 
greater possibilities for the coming generations, 
for the parents will know and will practice pure 



WHITHER ARE YOU GOING? 271 

thoughts, pure living, so that a little soul coming 
into the physical expression thru them will not be 
burdened by their imperfections. 

The nearest I can express to you the condition 
or appearance of soul matter before its individual- 
ization is by comparing it with the sun's rays as 
they would appear to your mortal vision — but they 
are vibration rays which cannot be discerned by 
the mortal eye. 

Now, the laws of Nature may seem to grow very 
dim, but 'tis not so, and if man would obey the 
demands and commands of Nature, there would be 
more perfect harmony and an opportunity of hav- 
ing more perfect souls — but man has not grown to 
this, except some very few who are striving to 
reach into the beyond. 

It is not for the individual to take into his or 
her hands Nature's plan and try to change it; it is 
not for mortal man to try to change Mother Na- 
ture's plan — it cannot be. All things which Na- 
ture begins shall continue to be; all things which 
are brought into existence shall continue to be thru 
the unending cycles of eternity. Therefore, when 
the individualization of the spirit has been started 
thru the plan of Mother Nature, it shall not cease 
to be; that individual shall continue to live. And 
when man or woman in the mortal flesh attempts 
to stay the light which has been put into expres-, 
sion they are attempting something which is im- 
possible. 

If man attempts to break man-made laws, does 
he not suffer the consequences? Then the laws of 



272 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

Nature, more binding, stronger, more lasting, eter- 
nal, shall not be broken by individuals. 

If man disobeys the laws of Nature, and takes it 
into his unenlightened hands to destroy those 
things which Nature has planted, as I stand here 
before you, the debt must be paid. The law of 
compensation is a part of Nature's plan; not a 
thing, not an atom, not a thought is sent out into 
the universe but that it is of use, but that it is for 
a purpose. Nothing is wasted of all things that 
exist, not even a thought, not even a partial 
thought. All things are for a purpose. 

And so I propose to tell you tonight, so far as 
I am able to make it clear to your minds, the con- 
dition or the place as you term it, into which the 
soul of one who passes who has broken those laws 
and thought to stop the progress of the individ- 
ualization of spirit. 

Now, there are soul matter spheres, and concep- 
tion is a part of the individualization and opera- 
tion of soul matter; and in this thought realm or 
this sphere are minds or intelligences busily work- 
ing, engaged in assisting Mother Nature in this 
wondrous plan unknown to mankind. The soul of 
him or her who passes into the spiritual expression 
of life before they have paid the debt to Mother 
Nature that they have incurred by seemingly stop- 
ping the development of an individual, after it has 
gone into the world of spirit, finds itself in this 
prenatal field, until that soul is hungry for an op- 
portunity to help in the care of little ones; until 
the debt is paid; until that little soul begins to 
come into the light of intellect, begins to reason, 



WHITHEE AEE YOU GOING? 273 

begins to progress. Now, the souls who cause 
these things are filled with remorse, because they 
feel that if they were only able to return to the 
mortal expression again they could pay that debt. 

Now we will speak of the little child, who thru 
the ignorance of the parent was denied the physi- 
cal body for expression. How many of you know 
that the little child whose physical expression was 
denied by those who were to have been its parents 
is a living soul today? — living and knowing these 
things. How many knowing this would then do 
it? 

These little souls have no physical experience 
save what they gather by being closely associated 
with the mother and father of them. They cling 
close to their parents until they have had sufficient 
expression upon the physical plane — because the 
minds who were to guide and lead them in the 
early years of expression have that still to do. 

And so in the spiritual expression of life, every 
thought and every train of thought has its workers 
who are paying the debt they owe to Mother Na- 
ture. In teaching and assisting and putting before 
you (their students) examples of all those things 
which you will find your teachers impressing upon 
your intelligence; gathered about them are those 
who are paying the debt for the sin begun on the 
earth plane. 

Oh, that I could express to you in words that 
you in the mortal expression of life could gather 
and comprehend the wondrous things that are 
yours, the wondrous powers that are yours. 

We are trying to show you the powers of the 



274 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

human mind — that you are a part of that GREAT 
MIND — that you are HIS expression — that you 
may better know yourselves — that you may better 
know how to reach out to the grand and glorious 
spirit of which your mortal minds have no concep- 
tion. You cannot even begin to reach high enough 
to think what God is. 

There is not a man or woman walking upon the 
mortal plane today who has not at some time 
heard that voice speak to him, calling to his soul 
— it is forbidden — that still, small voice which bids 
you not to do — how often man disregards it. 

When man meets the fruits of his wrong doing, 
and finds himself physically ill; meeting all sorts 
of misfortunes, then he wonders why his fruits are 
so impure, so imperfect. How many times does he 
stop to consider the seed he has sown? How many 
times does he stop to look back over the pages of 
his own life to see when these seeds were sown 
from which this fruit is coming; to see when he 
disobeyed the still, small voice which spoke to him? 
And now he meets, when he least desires to meet 
it, the harvest. 

There is no removing this from his pathway by 
any man but himself. He alone must remove the 
obstacles which he has placed in his way. How 
can he do this? By building a condition of purity 
and truth and spirituality about his soul so strong 
that all things seem spiritual; by building about 
him the glorious spirit forces which will consume 
the things which are not of spirit and which are of 
his own creation. 

These are the things that man must learn to 



WHITHEE ARE YOU GOING? 275 

overcome that he may come up from the depths; 
these are the things which the master mind that 
dwells within him must learn to overcome. And 
when he has learned to obey this still, small voice 
within his consciousness which comes from the true 
spirit of light; when he learns to listen to that, 
when he learns to obey it, he will become so much 
more sensitive, so much more responsive to the 
spiritual light of God that he will not be inclined 
to do anything which is evil. 

If he does not learn this lesson while in the 
physical expression, then, some time, somehow, 
somewhere he will have it to learn after that phys- 
ical body has gone back to Mother Earth. 

There are many souls disembodied today who 
are crying out in remorse that they did not receive 
the light in the mortal body. Many souls are reap- 
ing the harvest of what was sown while in the 
flesh. But eventually they will rise from the 
depths into the light of truth and gather the knowl- 
edge that their condition is not of God's creation 
for God is that which hath no hate, no revenge, no 
jealousy. God is infinite love and truth, infinite 
intelligence and perfection — God is ALL. 

Some one has asked, "Does sin leave a scar 
upon the soul after one has passed into spirit life 
and progressed into spiritual realms?" Now, there 
are various interpretations of sin. So we will in- 
fer that the reference to sin is the transgression 
of an individual against the dictates of his own 
conscience. The acts and thoughts of an individ- 
ual imprint upon the soul of that particular per- 
son its peculiar color vibration, which remain and 



276 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

are a part of the soul or the individual. And man 
in his spiritual progression in the body or out of 
it so builds about him the spiritual lights of gold 
and purple and pure white so that as he progresses 
these colors consume and eventually obliterate the 
colors of those things which are not of the higher 
life. After man has progressed, is there a scar? 
There is no end to man's progression, but some 
time man will progress and rise above all the 
things which are imperfect, all things which are 
not of perfection — and a scar upon the soul of 
man, is it not imperfect? 

Therefore, man's progress in spiritual thoughts, 
the resurrection of his soul, removes all indica- 
tions of anything which is imperfect. The soul 
which has risen above the things of earth has no 
scar, no memory of sin, as you term it. Its pro- 
gression cannot be considered complete until all 
memory of sin has been wiped away. 

On the pure soul of man there is no scar. 

The souls of men who walk in the lowest depths 
of sin will some time rise, will some time be 
touched by the higher light and there will come a 
desire for spiritual light, a desire to do better. 
It may be ages seemingly to you after that body 
is buried that that spirit becomes enkindled and 
rises, but, as I stand before you, some time that 
soul will rise, and some time it will come into its 
own. 

Everything that is of God (and all spirit is of 
God) cannot die. It has always lived and always 
shall live; eternally rising and rising, reaching out 
to the great and wondrous spirit. 



WHITHEK ARE YOU GOING? 277 

Those things which are true, those things which 
are right, those things which are of God shall rise 
and live, and those things which are false and sin- 
ful, those things which are wholly material will 
die, inasmuch as they lose their inspiration and go 
back to the earth, but the spirit, never — the spirit 
lives — there is not a soul manifested in the body of 
man or woman that will not some time rise and 
come into the true light of spirit. 



(Brothers and sisters, we have brought into 
your midst tonight one who lived on the earth 
plane many thousands of years before your time. 
He existed where the city of Babylon stood long 
before its fall. He has served many years of trials 
and ungratified desires of life; now he comes 
forth a wonderful teacher, and we will have the 
pleasure of hearing him, as well as you.) 



" Brethren, I come into the earth vibration a re- 
pentant sinner. I have been for many years 
(years and years) trying to tear down that which 
I built up. I was an emperor, a master, and a 
cruel one. I was the cause of many lives being 
taken and for each I suffered, and as you may see, 
I still cling to earth atoning for my selfishness, 
crimes and sin. As I look back at my dreams of 
earth life — what a nightmare it was; long before 
Babylon fell I was a criminal; and my seventy-five 
short years there have brought to me all these 
years of atonement. It is a mesmeric power self 
has on the body, the soul becomes tired and weary 



278 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

over the deeds it hath performed — the wicked can- 
not rest. 

The material body is an instrument, as in the 
hands of a workman a hammer is used by a car- 
penter so is the body used by the soul which it in- 
habits, so to speak, and friends, if you used your 
body according to the laws of nature it would re- 
main in good condition longer than it does. If 
man could remain with his physical body longer 
then the spiritual body would be in a better condi- 
tion to help the soul to advance. See that you 
keep your instruments in good repair, there is 
much for you to do in life. 

In my existence on the earth plane I was wholly 
material; I was avaricious. Avarice is one of the 
greatest wrongs, avarice is not only poison to self, 
but all with which it comes in contact. Avarice, 
instead of suiciding in its infancy, lives until it 
has murdered spirituality and then suicides. Yes, 
friends, avarice was my sin. 

Do you want me to tell you the condition in 
which I found myself when I first came over here? 
I found only self; I seemed to be penned in a room 
alone, all I seemed to see was self; I saw, I knew 
nothing but self. It seemed for eternity I lived 
with myself — it was but the reflection of my sin; 
of what I thought, what I knew, what I lived; I 
had nothing but that miserable, horrible, abomi- 
nable self. 

Then one day there came to me an answer to a 
great desire for something besides myself- — a door 
opened; I listened, I looked eagerly; I looked and 
saw a man that I had murdered — only him and 



WHITHEB ARE YOU GOING? 279 

self — agony of body cannot be compared with this. 
Here was the soul sent out before time by me who 
came in answer to my cry for something beyond 
self — all I knew was crime and self. Again I cried 
for something besides self, only to be awarded as 
before. 

But I know~ something beyond self now ; and 1 
come to help others by telling them of the fruits 
of wrong doing. I do not dare to disclose all to 
you tonight, darkening your thoughts with pictures 
of my life, but little by little I will tell you of my 
existence on the earth plane and how I have paid 
the debt here. Oh, I thank you for this opportu- 
nity, and hope that you will benefit by my mis- 
takes. 



(The following is from one who taught his follow- 
ers the fear thought and to believe in a place 
called Hell.) 

"Friends, I have returned to say that I knew 
not what I did when I sowed the seeds of fear in 
my fellow-man's soul; and to say that I nee«l your 
assistance in tearing down and removing the con- 
ditions I builded while in the flesh expression. 

I found upon leaving my body there that life 
continued here, beginning just where I closed the 
book there. I have still to teach, I still have work 
to do — and face to face I meet the souls of men 
within whom I have kindled fear, and they speak 
to me and say, 'Father, father, we are waiting to 
be cast into the eternal hell of which you told us.' 

These souls, waiting for the hell which they ex- 



280 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

pected to be cast into when they came over here — 
was this not hell enough for me to know that 
through my teachings these souls were in such a 
darkened state of mind that they cried out to me in 
fear? 

Oh, brothers and sisters, help me to tear down 
these false teachings. It is true — as man liveth, 
so shall he die — and as I taught my fellow-man, so 
I met that here; not the burning of the body, but 
the consciousness of remorse that I spoke the 
things to my people which I could not believe in 
my soul was true; and yet I strongly impressed it 
upon their minds that they would be cast into hell 
if they did not believe that which I spoke. 

There is a staff upon which to lean, and that is 
knowledge; lean upon facts, lean upon the light, 
rise and find that it is not necessary to lean upon 
anyone else, for man is strong enough in himself, 
being a part of his Creator, being a part of the 
Great Cause he is one of God's expressions, then 
why should he lean on any man's interpretation? 
Man never was intended to be a follower, but to 
be a unit of light and truth — he must gather in 
his own interpretation and express it in his own 
way ; for such it is to him and by it shall he walk ; 
for he shall meet face to face upon stepping into 
the other plane, himself, his conscience, his life 
will meet him there and then he shall know him- 
self; then he shall know that for which he has 
worked, and then shall he see the falsity of those 
things in which he believed, and which were not 
true. 

Will you help me remove those conditions? 



WHITHEK AKE YOU GOING? 281 

Save the will power of the man; start him on the 
highway of progression that he may meet here 
himself, for such he will find; and when you know 
that his teachings are false, tell him so and ask 
him not to do it — in the name of truth do this ; for 
I am in hell, so to speak, because of the false 
teachings I gave. I am ever meeting the cry of 
my brother, 'I'm waiting to go to hell.' 

Help me, brothers and sisters, and some time I 
shall return and ask if I might help you." 



(Teacher.) You will find yourself waiting to 
receive the illumination which you expect to re- 
ceive immediately upon coming into the spiritual 
life; and you will find that you are not a lighted 
lamp, but that you must illuminate your own path- 
way which you dimly darkened by your earth ex- 
pression. 

You have no spiritual condition waiting for you 
over here, you have to build it; it matters not 
whether you understand spirit return or not, you 
find yourselves waiting for that which you shall 
not receive until you have lighted your lamp. 



What treasures have you in your storehouse, 
laid away for the day in which you will find your- 
self in a strange land; in a new expression, a new 
life, alone? What treasures have you stored away 
for that day? Stop and think in your mad rush 
for the things of the flesh — stop and think of that 
day, when you will find yourself shorn of all that 
is flesh, when you will find all your earthly treas- 
ures are gone, and all that you have left are those 



282 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

things which you stored in that storehouse for a 
future day. That day is coming to you some time 
— this you know — and yet even now you forget to 
store away those things which you will most need 
in that day when you leave all material things be- 
hind. 

Is your storehouse illuminated with love of hu- 
manity, with the kind thoughts you have sent out 
into the universe, with the kind deeds of love? — 
the most glorious light of spiritual truth. Is there 
any light of truth shining out of your window? Or 
have you stored away hate, jealousy, malice, things 
which create darkness? Are these the things you 
have stored away? Then face to face you will 
meet them. 

Every thought, every word, every deed of which 
you are the creator and which you have sent out 
into the universe lives and fills its little niche in 
your storehouse. They wait for you and some 
time you will find yourself there facing only those 
things which you have saved for that day — you 
cannot get away from them for they live with 
you. 

What of the fellow you have wronged previous 
to your repentance? Or what of that man you 
have caused to go on the downward path of sin 
and continues on his pathway of sin? Can you re- 
pent and be saved under those conditions? Would 
this be a law of justice? Would even your mortal 
minds imagine this to be a just law? 

Man always finds himself when he steps into the 
silence traveling along some particular train of 
thought. Now, these thoughts are living with you, 



WHITHER ARE YOU GOING? 283 

these thoughts are stored away in your storehouse 
for that future day when you step into the new 
world alone, a stranger; all those earthly treas- 
ures gone, and you meet face to face the deeds, 
the thoughts, the wishes that you have sent out 
into the universe. 

Then again, when you find yourself sitting alone 
and all your thoughts are for universal good, for 
the upliftment of mankind, of brotherly love, and 
desire for the unity of man — all these created by 
your influence — you will find there a beautiful 
home and a storehouse of which you will not be 
ashamed. 

So clean your storehouse and fill it with the 
great truths and you will find the reflection of 
those thoughts which you sent out. But if your 
thoughts be selfish, wordly ones, thinking about 
having your fellow-man 's goods ; thinking how you 
might gain some earthly treasure; thinking how 
you hate some poor creature who hasn't half the 
chance you have — what a monster you will find 
waiting "over there" for you — and you cannot kill 
him. 

Repentance is good because it casts that light 
upon you — but it does not wipe out your debts — 
one by one they must be surmounted, and by your 
own efforts. 

In this lesson we cannot help but stop to speak 
to you of a law which is over your nation — that 
one man or a dozen may mete out punishment to 
another in taking from that soul his physical body 
because he has taken the physical life of some 
other individual. Are you more capable of judg- 



284 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

ing him or meting out to him his punishment than 
is the great Over Soul? If it was right for his 
physical vehicle to be removed from his soul be- 
cause he in his weakness sinned, why, the great 
law of life would do it — instantly as he took a life 
his would be taken ; but since it is not, it is the law 
of life that he live to finish his earth expression. 

"When you do this you rob him of that part of 
his expression which makes it possible for him to 
express himself naturally upon your plane of ex- 
pression. You send out upon the astral plane a 
man with a very little opportunity because you 
have severed him from the vehicle thru which 
nature intended him to manifest for a time where 
he would have some experiences which that soul 
needed in its growth; and you have ruthlessly 
taken from him that vehicle — by what right? 

You are not punishing that soul nearly so much 
as you are punishing all the other souls with whom 
he comes in touch, as he is naturally brought back 
to earth to finish that expression, and is drawn 
close to those who are in his thought realm. That 
soul is ten times more dangerous to humanity after 
you have forced him from his physical body — this 
is the cause of so many suicides. — This is the fruit 
of capital punishment. 

Now we will speak of him who takes his own 
life. Perhaps there is a diseased organ, perhaps 
there is a deficiency in the brain cells ; perhaps one 
of those souls who have been cast into the other 
life either by his own hand or that of another, re- 
turns and touches the consciousness of that indi- 
vidual, perhaps comes upon that individual spirit 



"WHITHER ARE YOU GOING? 285 

at the very moment when he might give the sug- 
gestion of destruction, or that he might destroy 
his own physical body. Men in this condition nat- 
urally meet with no suffering except the realiza- 
tion of what they have done. 

A man who believes there is nothing beyond and 
takes from himself the vehicle of physical expres- 
sion and casts it back to earth believing that he is 
taking himself away from the gathering in of the 
harvest of what he has sown in another condition 
— what shall he meet? So surely as he has sown, 
so surely will he gather in his harvest, and so 
surely will he know it. When he has been discov- 
ered in his sin, he will grieve to be looked upon 
with scorn. He will have this to meet and he will 
know what it means because he will no longer see 
thru his physical senses, but he will see thru the 
all-seeing eye of spirit, and will discern therein the 
reaping of the harvest. This is the great law of 
life and he will find that his judgment is the reali- 
zation of the things for which he has to pay — it is 
the realization of the fruits of his sins. 

Some time you, too, will pass into that new life 
— then what? You must live: you cannot die, even 
if you want to — the spirit is of God — God hath no 
death — no end. 

You cannot get away from the things which you 
have brought into existence in the way of your 
thoughts and your acts. Do you believe that you 
merely ask for forgiveness and then pass into a 
realm of happiness? If you do, brothers and sis- 
ters, think — use that wondrous God-given power of 
thought and think. 



286 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

Have you sent out many thoughts of selfish de- 
sire? I am speaking of your inmost thoughts, not 
your spoken thoughts. These will all return to 
you. Do you think that the moment you turn away 
from evil that the thoughts on the previous pages 
of the book are dead? They are not. When the 
flesh body sinks back to Mother Earth, those 
thoughts are not there, they are living and you will 
partake of their fruits. 

Closely in touch with your earth planet today 
are many risen souls who return to undo the con- 
ditions which they built whilst they were in the 
flesh — and they are anxious to show you the way 
to kill the bitterness in your nature and cultivate 
within you the spiritual part of yourselves. 

You are building the instrument upon which you 
must play the harmonies of life — are you building 
the conditions about you that will bring forth dis- 
cordant vibrations that will tear down the glorious 
harmony of life and grate on the hignly attuned 
spirit of man? Or are you building that which 
brings forth harmony, love, happiness, peace? 

Tonight, we extend to you from the world of 
spirit the hand of good fellowship; even as dead 
men live, so can they speak to you. Some may 
say that outside of the physical life there is noth- 
ing; but some time the spirit of them will be 
touched by the higher light and then they will not 
only believe, but they will know; and in the know- 
ing they will find ; and out of all this will come the 
higher and the real universal knowledge of what 
is, and why. 

Where are you going? Why are you here? For 



WHITHER ARE YOU GOING? 287 

what purpose are you endowed with the power of 
thought? To spend it for physical comforts, or 
for the eternal YOU? The thinking part of your- 
self will never die, the real you will never pass into 
oblivion — but the physical part of you will pass 
back to earth from which it came. Then why spend 
all your thinking powers upon the comforts of the 
mortal body? Why do you waste all the wondrous 
power of the God Spirit within you? 

Oh, brothers and sisters, if you only knew the 
power that lies within each and every individual 
one of you; if you only knew the things lying be- 
fore you to do — if you do not do them now, some 
time you will find that they await your doing, and 
you will without your physical body be forced to 
accomplish the things which you have put off for 
so long. 

I wish to leave with you this little thought: The 
life you are living, not the life that your fellow- 
man can see, but the life which you are really liv- 
ing, is making that place where you are going. 

Would you wish to meet there the sorrowing 
faces of those whose hearts you have crushed, or 
would you wish to meet there the smiling faces of 
those whose hearts you have lightened? 



CHAPTER XI. 
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. 



God is spirit, God is not an individual spirit, 
but God is spirit, is light, is ALL — and "man is 
made to His own image and likeness." Not the 
physical form is made to His image, but it is the 
spirit that is to His image and likeness ; the physi- 
cal is merely the instrument thru which the spirit 
manifests whilst in the flesh expression. 

Every living thing expresses itself from the 
lower realms of expression into the higher and still 
higher, and still higher, until it reaches the form 
of man, when the mind of man, the spirit, the soul, 
can unfold and grow and express itself; then thru 
the individuality of man the Christ spirit, the God 
spirit following this, will express itself because 
man is made to His own image and likeness. Man, 
made to the image and likeness of God, expresses 
life because he has within him that part of God's 
expression which brings forth memory. This qual- 
ity begins to express itself in the animals; they 
begin to show powers of memory — they hold mem- 
ories of wrongs or kindnesses which have been 
shown to them, but there is still need of a finer 
expression, a finer vehicle, a finer temple thru 
which might manifest the God spirit; so it passes 
from that and again returns, and again after it 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 289 

(the memory quality) has inhabited many bodies — 
the fish, the bird, the animal — it will come forth 
highly developed in the body of man. 

This, thru that great law of life — evolution — ex-: 
presses more clearly to you than any other word I 
might use why it is man is made to the image and 
likeness of God, because he expresses himself as a 
man once in the flesh, and then more spiritual, and 
still more spiritual; building and living upon that 
material plane of expression, and then the as- 
tral, and then the finer spiritual qualities, even 
higher than those which manifest upon the astral; 
casting aside the bodies thru which he has risen — 
it is the ascension of the soul; it is the evolution 
of man as he grows thru all the coarser stages of 
expression into manhood and womanhood in the 
temple of the human form, where thru the wonder- 
ful powers of the human mind he can manifest un- 
told truth, untold possibilities. But in his growth 
man is borne into many stages of expression be- 
cause environments and associations make a great 
difference in the unfoldment of the spirit qualities 
within him. 

Therefore, I say, bar no denomination, no sect, 
no group, no class of men and women who have 
gathered for the unfolding of the God spirit, for 
man is born to His image and likeness. Then 
why should a group, or why should one class 
separate themselves from the other with words of 
bitterness, or prejudice? Why should they say 
because this one group teaches one expression of 
spiritual things, they are wrong? My friends, all 



290 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

things which bring forth the good within man are 
good. 

If you attempt to gather the light from one 
group or denomination and find that you cannot 
grow spiritually within that group, then it would 
not be wrong for you to search within another 
group for that food which the spirit within you 
is craving. 

Know that spiritual things can only be dis- 
cerned thru spiritual vision; and so it is the God 
spirit, the spirit of man, the good, which ex- 
presses itself thru the physical body, expresses 
God. 

As man grows thru all these different stages of 
expression into that perfect thought out of the 
flesh, it is possible for him to rise from one 
thought realm into a higher, and still a higher 
until he can consciously see the why of all little 
weak thoughts; when he can see and look with 
compassion upon those who manifest in the flesh 
where they are opposing one another, placing 
obstacles in their way and making life hard for 
each other. 

Why, just think, you can go into a spiritual 
thought for even your enemies — try it just for a 
moment and feel that peace which comes with it, 
when you can see within yourself in all sincerity 
and know that poor man does these things because 
he has just unfolded to that degree or stage where 
he feels that it is right for him to crush his fel- 
low-man for the wrongs he has done. 

Know that justice is in spirit; that justice is not 
that which you can visualize thru your physical 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 291 

desires or thoughts, but justice is laid dowu by 
the great overruling mind and every man must 
pay his debts — the great law of compensation is 
ever and ever expressing itself — but it is not for 
one man to take the life of another even because 
he kills another, or crushes that body until the soul 
leaves it; it is not for you to say that he shall die. 
Let him live that he may finish that flesh ex- 
pression. 

Why not rise spiritually into another life and 
look thru spiritual eyes over the world, see them 
struggle, see them quarrel, see them kill, see them 
take and force those who do not belong to that 
group into this one, see them dominate — see all 
these things, and then see that to which they are 
coming eventually. 

Be not a part of that which expresses the lower 
desires of the flesh, but be a part of that which 
expresses the God spirit; for it is only as man 
rises spiritually and grows out of all things which 
are low, such as are the things of which I have 
spoken, he shakes them off in his growth in order 
to grow faster, rising and lifting with him his 
fellow-man into a higher and purer expression of 
life when they will see that it is not the body of 
man that is made to the image and likeness of 
God, but the spirit. 

Therefore, seek God; seek Him in whose like- 
ness you are created; seek and search out, not by 
groping in the darkness of the flesh, by groping in 
the darkness of material things, in the lower 
realms of thought, but by lifting yourself spirit- 
ually, living the humble life of the Nazerene, going 



292 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

forth to teach and to bring forth, not by words so 
much, no, but by ascension, illuminating your sur- 
roundings with your light, showing indeed that 
man is made to His image and likeness, and that 
God expresses Himself thru you, and thru the 
minds of men as they express good. Know that 
man is indeed created to the image and likeness of 
God, but it is not his flesh body as has been in-, 
terpreted by so many minds. 

In the silence, in the TRUTH, in the light of 
spirit can any man sit alone with his conscience, 
alone with his spirit and hate and feel that he 
would crush any man? NO! because that thing is 
not of the spirit. Oh, that you all might strive 
to be a part of the great spiritual uplift, the light 
of which is descending upon your earth plane thru 
all the discordant vibration of today, thru it all, 
out above it all, we can see descending Upon you 
the great white light, that light conveyed from the 
Master Mind, illuminating some few who rise and 
stand strong in the TRUTH. 

Do not have an antagonistic thought towards 
any man, even tho you see that he is wrong, do not 
antagonize him; do not say, "You are wrong," but 
send forth that clear spiritual thought which will 
illuminate so much about his life that he will see 
and clearly conceive thru spirit. 

Brothers and sisters, friends, go into the world 
to lift and to serve. It matters not how bitterly 
they may criticise you, know that there was a great 
master — Jesus — who walked in the flesh as a 
master mind, but he was crushed because His 
views were not of the men of His day, because He 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 293 

attempted to live the pure, good and true life. 

Unfold that you can start along your journey 
in a high spiritual light and continue to serve. 
Send forth that great thought which will help and 
not crush, do it for the good it does, think not of 
yourselves but of those who are less fortunate. 
'Tis not how much man has learned of the laws 
of life, but how well he applies that knowledge for 
the betterment of himself and his fellow-men; 'tis 
not the man who tells his fellow-men what they 
should do, but it is the man who illuminates that 
man's life by the example he shows. 

When man learns to express and give to the 
world his true self, how much nicer it will be, how 
much better it will be for all mankind when all 
things that are so far from spirit shall be put 
away; they will be looking for the good and will 
see it manifested everywhere, because man's real 
true self, if he gives it to the world as it is, will 
always be what he would wish to have man know, 
to know him as he is. 

Unity of thought, unity of desire, unity of man- 
kind, that is the weapon which tears down the 
walls of prejudice and ignorance and permits man 
to use the intellectual powers God has given him 
that he might better help his brother and walk the 
earth plane in christian fellowship. The soul or 
the spiritual thought force within man is in the 
ascendant; it is descending to rise with man in the 
body; and man is thinking how to better the con- 
ditions of all mankind. As man reaches out into 
the spiritual realm of thought he will find uni- 
versal thought powers spreading all about him — 



294 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

love, peace, harmony — that of which man in the 
mortal expression of life knows nanght. 

Are you searching for the means to crash your 
brother, for the way to gather to yourself all the 
things which you want for the comfort of your 
physical body, or are you searching in the realm 
of thought for something which will create among 
your fellow-men a real understanding 1 ? He who 
sends out a thought which he hopes will bring 
happiness to some particular one, is he not serving 
mankind? 

The spirit returns to preach the gospel of love, 
1-o-v-e LOVE, unselfishness, unselfishness is love. 
Oh, if you could but know how difficult it is to 
overcome that very common fault in man today 
which is selfishness. We see it manifested in the 
seance room in the spirits who return from be- 
yond where they can see thru the vision of spirit, 
by the eagerness of those to reach their loved ones 
— you will see that even there selfishness is not 
gone; they are still working thru it — and 'tis a 
bitter enemy. 

When you overcome that enemy, selfishness (and 
it lies within the greater number of men in the 
flesh today) you will find the spirit within who is 
making great effort to ascend the spiritual Alps, 
that stage of mastership where he can master his 
own soul and be anxious for others. 

Just take this week and note how many selfish 
thoughts you have; selfish perhaps for just your 
family, or just your class, or just your group; 
note how many selfish thoughts you have and tear 
them out, cast them from you into the universe to 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 295 

be picked up and put thru a finer experience — 
that universal love — oh, the peace of it; oh, the 
glory of it, to love and pity your enemies. Pity 
them — pity is akin to love, for you cannot pity 
very long without having a tender feeling for 
them; and as that ripens and grows into full 
bloom, behold! it is love. So cultivate all of this 
— turn your minds into the proper channels — the 
mind is the reflector — turn the reflector toward the 
great light of universal love and God. 

If you do this, there will be no wars, no strug- 
gling one against the other, for you will love them 
all. 

What matters if you have more for your labor, 
or if you give more for your labor ? What matters 
it? What more does man want than just plenty? 
When man begins to have a surplus then his mind 
turns from spiritual things. Just ask for plenty 
and you will have it. And when you have just 
enough, and within your bosom is that universal 
love for all men, that self-sacrificing spirit, when 
you have overcome the spirit of selfishness, oh! 
the peace and the happiness — and you can reach 
that without a cent, without a penny, by just your 
own effort. 

All things are yours (I do not mean your 
brother's things that he has struggled to acquire, 
but all things) because if you love, love is always 
bringing to you more and more of the great good, 
that which satisfies the soul of man and invites 
and brings forth in its unfoldment the spirit 
within. 

Cast out the selfishness within and place there a 



296 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

monument of love, walk in christian fellowship 
and brotherly love and see how radiant will be 
your faces, how your souls will be illuminated. 

The expression of selfishness exists all over the 
world today — it is in all classes — classes will in- 
dividualize, people will individualize by their 
thoughts and by their deeds, but thought force 
from the Infinite, love, good, justice, is universal, 
and all men have the privilege of drawing from 
that source of ALL GOOD, but how little they 
know of the power within themselves. 

"Within the consciousness of every man dwells, 
ever and ever striving to come forth in the purity 
of perfection, the spirit. Your individuality either 
retards or aids in the unfoldment of the spirit 
within you, so cultivate the finer quality — not 
merely loving this one or that one, but loving all 
mankind — universal love — can you conceive of it? 
Oh, the wonderful peace and happiness in being 
able to send out this thought, "I am in the uni- 
verse and the universe is within me." ALL 
GOOD — you are a part of it, and it is a part of 
you. 

Your thought should not be for this country or 
that country, for this class or for that class, for 
this group or that group, for this denomination or 
that denomination, but it should be for all man- 
kind, God's people. 

Ever and ever thru all the ages the message 
brought by the great masters is unselfishness — 
each and every time their message holds that 
thought, "Be self-sacrificing; help one another; 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 297 

work in unity for all good ; do not injure your 
neighbor; do not hate your neighbor." 

When man begins to develop the spiritual part 
of himself he will so illuminate the pathway of his 
brother that he will be drawn to him and he will 
find himself. When man has done this little thing 
he will have accomplished a great big thing for 
the world — he is tearing down the earth thought 
which is impossible to do with hate, criticism, 
carnal thought, which are the creeping things of 
the earth — man will know how to help his fellow- 
man properly; he will not want the things which 
belong to another. 

The world is sinking in sorrow — love it, bury 
hate beneath the sod, let selfishness, hate, avarice, 
jealousy rot in the earth and rise above it, culti- 
vate the good which lives within you — the world 
needs every atom of good within all men. 

Cultivate the spiritual powers within you which 
will enable you to see how to study the qualities 
and deficiencies of your brother and know how to 
help him. Hold within yourself and send to him 
the great thought of love, of sympathy, of spiritual 
light; not saying even in your thought that you 
are better than he. 

As you step out of the physical thought into the 
spiritual you will come into that universal thought, 
because as man unfolds spiritually he cannot help 
but know that he is a part of the universe, that 
all mankind are his brothers; that the same force 
that brought him into the physical expression of 
life also brought his brother into that same ex- 
pression. 



298 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

When you have found the wondrous power 
within you, you will find it is not how much you 
can dominate over your brother, not how much 
you can impress your brother, but it is how much 
you can illuminate the world with your spiritual 
thought. 

Brotherly love and the golden rule are most 
beautiful teachings — why should they be shaded 
by falsehoods of the "grave being the end?" The 
grave is not the end of man — why fear death? 
Father God and Mother Nature have borne you 
into this life, so they will bear you into the life 
beyond. 

I have been present whilst teachers in modern 
times were saying, "We care not for the life here- 
after, it is this life." I shudder for the false 
home they are building, smothering the beautiful 
plant of truth. They are sowing seeds of 
poisonous weeds in the souls of their auditors, and 
they will grow, as they have grown with them, and 
be detrimental to their progression. 

Many forget that all about them and within 
every physical temple of clay lives God. Yes, 
forget, and would destroy that temple, casting out 
whom? Why should man take it upon himself to 
send into a new expression of life the soul of any 
man? If man causes a premature birth in the 
physical body, you call him a criminal; but if he 
causes the premature birth into spirit of a soul, 
born into that new life before it is time, what is 
he? A poor unenlightened soul. We grieve for 
those who are unconsciously placing into spirit life 
a premature soul. If it is criminal to abort or 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 299 

cause a premature birth in the physical, then you 
might say it of one who causes the soul to be 
prematurely born into a new expression. That is 
it — take the lesson home with you. Think of 
eternal life — what is it worth to a man to gain the 
whole world if for a time he loses his own soul — 
for in search of that consciousness, he may spend 
a great portion of a great eternity in finding it. 

Oh, let us help those who know not to find some 
way to unfold the spirit within; but do not force 
your thought upon them — they may have another 
expression by which or thru which they will reach 
God. Just as some are black in the flesh and 
some are white, just as every expression of life is 
one of God's reflections, so let each man find his 
own spiritual expression, then teach him how to 
live — and the greatest power to teach you have 
within, it is to live the life — example is the 
greatest inspirer to good. 

How many of you really know love, pure, 
spiritual love? That which can see the why of all 
things weak, and that which can explain all the 
little things which seem so dark and wrong in man, 
and that which can overlook the whole universe 
in this thought and say, "I love every man, woman 
and child, I love you." It is possible to do this; 
and in your new day upon the brink of which you 
stand today, souls will walk in your midst, and 
you will touch them and you will know love be- 
cause love is the reflection of the Godhead; it is 
the law which draws man close to liberty; that 
which clears away the dark things of life and 
makes men see and know his fellow-man. 



300 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

Eise, search, turn your torch that the wind of 
vengeance, of hate, of avarice, of selfishness and 
all such things will not blow it out — turn it, pro- 
tect it by spiritual thought of ascension; hold that 
within the consciousness; know that it is within 
each individual soul to illuminate and bring into 
expression the inner God part. Stop for a 
moment in your mad race and think — you may be 
crushed, you may be starved, you may be brought 
where you will be criticised and censured for 
things which are the soul's good, but rise and 
know that GOD'S law of service is universal love, 
universal brotherhood. So love, serve, lift, illumi- 
nate and do not kill or crush even hate; but gather 
it up and put it in the flame of the lower light that 
thru that it, too, may be illuminated and become 
a light. We need the lower lights today (illumi- 
nated spirits in the flesh), they are coming into 
expression everywhere. 

The dead have never died; they are reaching 
hands out to you in love and service. Unite, clasp 
hands, beautify your lives, spread afar the light 
of truth against which even the winds of hate are 
blowing and doing all possible to extinguish, keep 
it burning. Peace shall come only thru the burn- 
ing of the lower lights; peace shall come only by 
spiritual thoughts; peace can only come to man as 
he rises out of the destructive thought — so let the 
lower lights burn and illuminate the pathway of 
many poor down-trodden souls. 

Know that the day is dawning upon this the so- 
called new country where shall be brought into 
existence the dove of peace; when man no longer 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 301 

will sit in the privacy of his own home and keep 
there that which he owes to his brother man. 

The thinking man on the avenue of materialism 
is searching out the why of all beliefs and creeds, 
why they ever came into existence. The man on 
the avenue of New Thought is thinking of all the 
good that can be accomplished by the thought 
power of man; the brother on the avenue of 
Socialism is wondering why he is a slave, and is 
searching for the reason of all this and is fighting 
to rise out of it — but he holds the thought within 
him that he must force the conditions to come to a 
head, but it is only thru spiritual unfoldment that 
all good things can come about. And on the ave- 
nue of Theosophy man is developing his soul 
powers, that his soul may rise into the glorious 
light of spirit; and he who walks along the avenue 
of Christian Science is drawing from the great 
fountain of life the force to perfect the temple of 
the spirit, the body; the desire for perfect bodies 
draws them into that avenue. 

There are minds that are lifting but there is 
about them a little cloud — the cloud of prejudice — 
and until they overcome that great enemy which 
clings after fear has been uprooted there can be 
no universal love thought. Universal love is God's 
reflection — can you not discard your little thought 
of prejudice and find the good part and help to 
bring it forth! Why not broaden out? The more 
you broaden, the more you search for good, the 
more you overcome all deception that lurks within 
you, the more sympathy and compassion and love 
you will hold for your brothers and sisters who 



302 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

are not so much enlightened as you are along 
spiritual lines. 

Search for the wondrous fountain of eternal life 
— truth and harmony — and nourish and refresh 
your souls. Think those thoughts which are pure; 
those things which reflect His likeness, and then 
will come about the universal brotherhood of man. 

"We suggest that in every home there be a sanctu- 
ary of light wherein you shall drink of the fountain 
of truth, wherein you shall go into the silence and 
there, receive the message of light which is now 
ready to be born upon your earth plane. Give it out, 
tell your fellow-man that he may better know; that 
his eyes may be opened to the light which it has been 
your privilege to know. 

As the door to the spiritual world swings open to 
you, do all you can, all that is in your power to open 
the door to your fellow-man that he may realize the 
truth. Lend your material assistance, give him your 
broad shoulder, give him your kind thoughts. Every 
soul that is awakened to the light of spirit and every 
soul that comes to the realization of truth, and every 
soul that is bettered spiritually by your effort di- 
rectly or indirectly will meet you "over there" a 
shining light. 

Unity of thought, unity of desire, unity of man- 
kind, that is the weapon which tears down the walls 
of prejudice and ignorance and permits man to use 
the intellectual powers God has given him that he 
might better help his brother and walk the earth 
plane in christan fellowship. 

I thought when I lived in the mortal body that the 
great man was the man who became the leader, who 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 303 

brought about victory m wars. What a realization ! 
what a change of thought! what a terrible awaken- 
ing came to me when I knew that the man who led 
his fellow-man into peace, who taught man the les- 
son of unity, who awakened in the souls of humanity 
that spiritual spark of light, that he was the truly 
great man. 

Pass the love thought to all — love all humanity; 
forgive their deficiencies for then you are fixing your 
sails to pass over the high waters into the harbor 
thru love. 

The great symbol which presents itself to me as I 
stand here, the vast water, meaning life, and I see 
the dark shadows of strife; I see men struggling 
over little things in life; over privileges and over 
rights and over wrongs. I see men assembled to 
take land of which they will never have a part. I see 
men walking ways for others and that way they will 
never tread. I see those vast waters as the men in 
the boats are sailing — I see them taking various 
ways, going in all directions, and there comes to my 
soul this thought — where are they going? I see 
nothing there but a great light, and now I see they 
are finding a way to communicate one with the other 
— by what means'? By the unfolding of the mental 
qualities within. 

They are tuning today upon the earth plane in- 
struments, chemically arranged, that they can 
gather thoughts from other lands ; and as I see these 
boats go by something brings me to know that they 
are all going to one great harbor. And now as I look 
back upon the strife, I see great struggles, hate, per- 
secutions, hunger, deprivations, unhappiness in the 



304 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

passing of infants out of the flesh ; it is an appalling 
sight to the men who are left. 

And now I see a great light descending upon them 
and, behold, a cleaner earth is revealed — but we find 
that not one of the things for which they fought is 
as they thought it would be. It comes as a great 
realization that the young men who have been 
crushed, lads gone, wives and mothers and babes 
tortured and crushed, the debt is not paid; death has 
not finished the great work it started. But the walls 
are broken down and they know that death reveals 
to them life and God. 

The man and his brother who hates him lie in the 
same grave, and they clasp hands as they pass into 
the boats. Behold, the wall has broken down, and 
they realize they love each other; there is one great 
thought of eternal light— and it has no name. 

(This symbolical vision was given thru a trance lecture 
soon after we had entered the great world war. "The passing 
of infants" thru starvation and disease surely is an appalling 
sight to man today. Is it not true, — "that not one of the 
things for which they fought is as they thought it would 
be?") 

Man knows not yet the name of the great religious 
thought which will permeate the consciousness of 
every individual in the ranks of the denominations 
over all the nations of the world. It has no name; it 
is nameless ; it is of God. Every man in every walk 
of life has some great thought of a higher power, but 
what man yet knows God? But he can feel the pres- 
ence, and can have the great desire to do good, to 
serve, to love. 

As you hear the call of the loved ones gone before, 
who are not dead, and whom all men know still live, 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 305 

as you hear the voices, can you not feel that they will 
lead you aright, so cultivate within you love, love for 
all mankind. 

These are the things the spirit world desires to 
give to man; it is not to tell them how to crush their 
brothers ; it is not to tell them how to deceive their 
brother, nor is it to tell them how to destroy the 
temple of flesh. 

When man cultivates the universal love power 
within him, forgetting self and thinking of the 
"dead", his dead, he will find a broad and beautiful 
avenue which leads to eternal light. 

The greatest problem man has today is the under- 
standing and comprehension of his own soul. Until 
he understands himself, how can he understand the 
ambitions and desires of others? He must first 
learn the problems of his own soul — he has much to 
master — then will it be time to tell others what to do. 

Live not for yourself or by yourself or in your- 
self, but live continually a little better than yourself ; 
let your desires be always a little beyond yourself ; 
let hope be a little above yourself, — and when you 
have mastered your own soul, then is it time to take 
your brother in hand and show him how to live. 

Nature's man is mortal, the mortal body is imper- 
fect because from time to time error (sin) has been 
brought into the mortal body. The God body, the 
spiritual body, that nature gave you is and should 
always be perfect by nature. All imperfections you 
have made yourself — understand yourself, and you 
will understand nature. 

You are living in the dawn of that new day when 
the light of spirit shall show itself thru the souls of 
all men ; when man shall serve his brother, shall help 



306 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

his brother and will not wrong him, will not think of 
taking his brother's life. 

Judge not your fellow-man — if as you see his life, 
it seems to you a dark shadow, perhaps beneath the 
shadow the light is kindling there which will illumi- 
nate that soul more quickly than your own. Forget 
the things which are wholly material, forget hate, 
envy, jealousy — forget all things which you know 
were never born of the spirit, and think of th« holy 
presence of pure spirit. Play your part well, and be 
not ashamed of your brother nor ashamed to have 
him know you as you are. Beach higher and higher 
for spiritual light and ask from the spirit world only 
those things which will be for the upliftment of man- 
kind. Let us leave malice, envy, jealousy, selfish- 
ness and all those things which are born of mortal 
mind behind us. Let us cultivate love for all, char- 
ity, truth — these are the things which are of God. 

Charity is not the giving of a portion of what you 
have without making yourself uncomfortable; it is 
not charity to love others just so far as it makes 
you happy — that is not charity. Charity is the giv- 
ing all you can, even to your own discomfort, to 
make others happy. How this word has been mis- 
interpreted, and yet it was one of Jesus' favorite 
thoughts — charity and faith. But the minds of men 
as they came down thru the different generations 
applied it to themselves, each holding just as much 
of it as pleased him, and finally it became a law that 
men adhere to their conception of the teachings of 
Christ. 

Jesus, the Nazerene, grown into and out of and 
thru many stages of spiritual unfoldment, reduced 
and returned to the physical expression to teach his 



UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD 307 

fellow-men to love one another; how to serve each 
other ; came to tear down the conditions which were 
hindrances to the growth of spirit. He was one of 
the greatest teachers of universal brotherhood, of 
brotherly love, the Golden Rule. It means to do 
unto others as you would have others do unto you ; 
it means to love your fellow-men; it means to love 
your enemies; have compassion upon. the sinner — 
not with the spirit of "I am greater than thou," but 
with the spirit of mercy and brotherly love. 

Lift, love, serve, enlighten, illuminate, cultivate 
the power to think. Man, know thyself, and by 
knowing thyself, thou wilt find God. Strive for that 
stage of unfoldment where you can see thru the eyes 
of spirit (clear understanding) and discern the 
things of God. 

Brothers and sisters, can you not spare a few 
moments each day for spiritual thought that you 
may reach out into the grand and glorious universe 
in search of God — not selfishly, but reverently, in 
hope, in love, in faith, in truth ; feeling within your- 
selves the reflection of HIM whose face you cannot 
conceive of, but whose presence you can feel when in 
the vibration of spiritual thought. 

You are His reflector, you are a part of HIM be- 
cause you are HIS thought. Man's mind, the think- 
ing part, is the nearest part of him to God, and 
man's whole personality is centered in his mind. 
There is nothing you see or feel but has some time 
been a thought. 

When man has put himself into the proper vibra- 
tion he will feel naught but that which is good, and 
will know that he has come into his own. When man 
knows this and feels it, there will not be within him 



308 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

any desire to wrong his fellow-man, but there will be 
a desire to help mankind. Thus he will sow the 
seeds whose fruits he will be proud to gather. Thus 
will come about UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD— 
the dream of Christ. 



CHAPTER XII. 
THE NEW DAY. 

We will talk to you for a time of the present day 
conditions and your part in it. We have frequently 
made it clear to you that your planet together with 
one very close to it are passing thru a very pro- 
nounced change. Not only the change of position, 
but many changes are taking place upon the planets. 
We will speak to you now particularly of that planet 
upon which you are manifesting. 

There is not only the change taking place in the 
minds of men ; not only the kingdom of manhood, we 
will say, but all the different products of this planet 
are passing thru a great change. The changes tak- 
ing place are not in all instances known by men, but 
very pronounced in many cases. 

There will be many changes in the animal king- 
dom, inasmuch as some will become very rapidly ex- 
tinct, and many new forms of animals will come into 
existence. Thru the minds of men, things shall be 
accomplished, of which man has never thought until 
recent date. There is a pronounced change taking 
place in the minds and brains of men because of the 
cultivation of the higher thought ; and thru the culti- 
vation of higher thought, a higher standard is at- 
tained. 

Today man has progressed not only spiritually 
and mentally, but physically to that stage where he 



310 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

can grasp more of the inner laws of life, and in doing 
this he has come in contact with the elements and 
the power within them. Thru the cultivation of the 
mind of man he finds that all the powers in the ele- 
ments are not destructive, but that there are many 
constructive elements. 'Tis not that it has not ex- 
isted before, but man had not attained that stage of 
development whereby he could grasp it. Man is 
discovering many things which tend to make com- 
forts for himself, and these enable him to delve into 
the spiritual laws ; and thru them is coining close to 
the earth plane a great army of intelligences which 
will aid man in his investigation. 

In spirit there are many students of the laws of 
communion who are searching for different avenues 
of manifestation ; some in the mechanical, some en- 
tirely thru vibration, and some thru the very sensi- 
tive instrument of the body. 

And therefore, we say to him who has received 
light in coming in direct touch with the human mind 
of those discarnate, it is well that he uses every 
fragment of knowledge acquired in the cultivation of 
the inner finer qualities, that he may reach into the 
higher realms of expression, where is understand- 
ing. 

Therefore, during this great change, there will be 
a great struggle, physically, materially and spirit- 
ually ; but it is the breaking down and preparing the 
way for the condition predicted by minds who knew 
not what they said ; who saw the great day of peace 
and harmony, but could not interpret it. Spiritual 
vision is understanding, therefore, it is true that 
just so clearly as you can understand the hidden 



THE NEW DAY 311 

laws of God you can just so clearly discern their 
meaning. 

We urge you to armor yourselves ever and ever 
with TRUTH and with love; but know this: The 
higher realms are to be kept open to man upon the 
earth plane. It is the duty of him who understands 
the laws to make his life, in his thoughts, words and 
deeds, that he can hold open the doors of the higher 
realms of expression. It is true that the lower 
realms will more easily open because there are more 
minds in the physical realm of thought. More selfish 
people in the world today than there are unselfish ; 
there are more inclined to selfish and material 
thought than there are inclined to the universal love 
thought — but we shall hold the thought for good for 
all mankind. 

Be spiritual, be true and reach out that you may 
aid mankind ; not only to learn of manifestation, but 
to learn of the great philosophy brought to you thru 
the realm of spirit from disembodied spirits. 

You are touching upon that new day; you cannot 
conceive of it yet, but as your planet changes and 
your world evolves from one stage to another, you 
all do also. There are some minds going forth more 
rapidly in progression and unfoldment, coming to 
the hidden things of life. Some try so hard yet they 
cannot see ; they cannot know, but they are revealed 
upon that same highway of life's progression — one 
must pass thru the different stages lest he plunge 
into the midst of something positively incompre^ 
hensible to his mind. Minds, reflections of the God- 
head, are becoming illuminated, as are yours, and 
men are coming into the light — it is the preparing — 
it is the advent of the new plan — it is not born yet — 



312 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

oh, it is beyond you, you could never understand it 
in the flesh body, lest you had prepared for it. 

When man conies into the light more clearly, this 
great fact upon which he is only touching the edge 
today, he will be able to attune himself to that per- 
fect condition. Some of your mortal teachers be- 
tween that world and this are lifting but they are 
met with criticism and scorn and with hate ; and, yes, 
sometimes with love — and thru that tiny love 
thought they reach to teach and to lift. 

Sensitive minds are being born today, more sensi- 
tive than ever before. The generation which is being 
brought into life today is that which will show you a 
clear light; it is that which will look upon war and 
destructive thought as a thing of the undeveloped 
minds; it is the advent of the new born plan — you 
cannot see it, but you feel it, and you know a great 
change is coming about because you feel something 
coming over you, something strange, something 
weird. 

This great war which is shedding the blood of in- 
nocent men is but the birth pangs of that new day or 
plan — you are a part of it — do not go forth pointing 
the finger of scorn at any man. Know that all these 
things must come to pass to touch man's vision, to 
crush the mercenary dealings which rule the plane 
of earth, to crush the enemy — not with the foot of 
hate, but 'neath the hand of love, crushing it back to 
earth because the earth is its mother; it is born of 
the earth and not of heaven. 

You are helping in every thought, if it is good — 
you are helping when you say, ' ' I love even my ene- 
mies." There are no enemies, we are all God's 
children — one God, one heaven, one thought, All, — 



THE NEW DAY 313 

and into the mind of every man shall be born that 
thought. Why do God's children divide against 
themselves? Because they know not what they do. 

"When man begins to ask himself if there is snch a 
thing as a world beyond the grave, and what becomes 
of onr loved ones when they die, he is beginning to 
see the soft ray of dawn as it rises in the east. 

In the new day man shall know how to build his 
body without gathering from the earth ; how to pro- 
tect his brother without resorting to the weapon, for 
with his mind he can draw from that great fountain 
of truth and imbue it into the souls, minds and 
bodies of those he loves. 

Can you imagine the day when man will feel no 
hate thought® It is dawning — you are privileged to 
be in the flesh and see and be a part of that great 
day. This wonderful day precedes the great tomor- 
row. 

Nations shall not only fall, but they shall sink back 
behind their desires into one universal thought. He 
who dares to take it upon himself to rule the minds 
of all men is stepping into that discordant thought, 
until out of the flame of universal love he shall be 
cleansed and purified and lifted into that realm of 
spirit where it is best for him to see and know. It is 
the dark demon of ignorance and prejudice which 
closes in upon poor man and obstructs from his 
vision his wonderful power for good. 

Man stands today upon the very brink of the new 
expression of life. When he uses the mind power to 
help and to lift, he will bring the conditions which 
make for good. He is getting out of the realm of 
thought or stage of unfoldment where he can use the 
mind for destructive purposes. When man is en- 



314 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

lightened he will not use the greatest gift God has 
bestowed upon him — his mind — for destructive pur- 
poses. He will not destroy anything—- that age is 
fast falling into oblivion. Today he begins to realize 
that he can do good with that mind and he can rise 
into a higher expression. 

Some develop and unfold whilst in the flesh body, 
some must first experience death — that is a part of 
their unfoldment. Therefore, brothers and sisters, 
ever strive to rise into the spiritual life where you 
can see clearer and conceive of the hidden things of 
life and of God — a glimpse of the new born plan. 

Man begins to prepare his body thru his mind, 
making for that new day perfect bodies. Man be- 
gins to realize that there is something more than 
just the life he sees; begins to cultivate more of a 
sympathetic vibration about him ; putting himself in 
tune with something beyond him, and which he does 
not yet know. He is daring to reach into the hidden 
things of life. When men will place their minds in 
tune with the Infinite Spirit of Perfection, the world 
will be governed thru God; life will be governed 
thru man's communication with the higher spirits. 
They are the messengers of light, ministering angels 
of God conveying your love thought; your hope; 
your thought from you to a higher realm until they 
have passed into the universal truth — love. And 
man is coming into that new day when he will be 
thru spirit communion purified. He will reach thru 
the spirit world and the ministering angels into that 
universal Godhead of light — and nations will be gov- 
erned thru this. It will not be thru the undeveloped 
mind of man, but thru minds who have passed out of 



THE NEW DAY 315 

the flesh into that higher conception of the things of 
God. 

So as you look thru the eyes of spiritual thought 
into the great ALL, all the universe, you will see 'tis 
all good. But only as man develops the spiritual 
powers within does he enable himself to find that 
good. 

Out of this great flame of discord will come 
forth souls illuminated by spirit; souls who ne'er 
before had thought of God; souls or minds which 
never before had risen away from the earth thought 
find their wondrous latent powers within them which 
lay dormant until this terrible discordant condition 
arose, and then the spark of light touched them and 
they began to rise out of it into that realization that 
they were more than a piece of clay, that they were 
more than that which just their physical vision dis- 
closed to them, that they were something which re- 
sponded to the call into eternity and that they lived ; 
and they began to realize that tho they crushed their 
flesh bodies they still lived. , 

After this great awakening which is coming upon 
the earth plane today, when man in all climes, all 
denominations, in all parts of the earth will realize 
that man lives after death, can a man slay his 
brother, knowing this 1 ? No, because that part of 
man's development or unfoldment or soul growth 
will stop here and get out of the bloody day into the 
spiritual day. 

The morning is here— the morning is just dawn- 
ing. 

And in the great day which you can see coming 
upon you, in the morning there will be no such shed- 



316 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

ding of blood because that great realization that 
man not only lives in a far off tomorrow somewhere 
after death, but he lives in the here, in the now — 
this realization is becoming universal thru this great 
discord — and then who can say that out of evil can 
come no good? 

Oh, the bright day, when men shall know their fel- 
low-men and they shall know themselves ; when men 
shall ne 'er draw the blood of his fellow-man ; that 
day when harmony unlocks the casket and reveals to 
him the hidden things of life. One is all, you are him 
and he is you — ALL ; one nation, one race, it matters 
not their color, their creed, their language, only 
their thought which is bound to come into the per- 
fect expression, even in the flesh and out of it, in that 
day when men shall not govern their groups by lim- 
ited thought, but thru that great light of universal 
love. 

And this day is coming upon you. All over your 
world minds are coming into a realization of the 
continuity of life and of spirit return. That great 
law has been terribly abused by illiterate minds — 
'tis just the undeveloped good. From the higher 
realms of spirit penetrating thru all that coarser 
vibration are coming the minds which bear to your 
world fragments of that harmonious ALL and they 
shall teach man how to live, how to love, how to do ; 
and that day is upon you. 

The today which is passing now is but the night of 
the old days, the old age or time of expression, and 
thru the Christian age, we will call it, (with this in- 
terpretation of the Christian age), the falling of the 
teaching pertaining to the blood atonement, when 
man could lean upon another, and when man could 



THE NEW DAY 317 

sin and create conditions destructive and then thru 
feeling sorry that he had done so, wipe it all away. 
Poor man thought so, he was taught so, because in 
that day that was the ecclesiastic vision they had on 
saving a soul from sin and darkness. 

And souls are coming forth who see your world at 
the close of the night. You will have great numbers 
of wonderful seers, prophets and teachers; those 
who in thought have risen out of all this discord into 
that pure, spiritual realm of thought and gathered 
there thoughts never expressed before, visions never 
seen before, words never spoken before by mortal 
man. Man will be so tired of this old condition 
builded about him that the great teachers will be 
those who have touched the spirit. 

In the new day which is coming, the minds of the 
coming generation are going to be of more enlight- 
ened quality, the children to be born will have a 
higher spiritual conception of things and they will 
come forth in spiritual thought more than man ever 
has before. Some of you will be the parents of some 
of these children, but most of you here will live to 
see the great seers of the coming day. They will see 
thru the eyes of understanding how to bring forth 
harmony and love, and the great day of Theocracy 
is bound to come when all things will be governed by 
your God. The highest conception of good, and all 
the good within you will come forth to aid in the 
government of this nation and all nations. 

Gleams of the coming day penetrate the curtain 
between and to those who reach spiritually thru 
the vision of the soul and spirit there comes that 
realization. The souls of man in the flesh today are 
awakening to this because the night of yesterday 



318 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

and the gleaming of the morning of the new day and 
the signs of the tomorrow so strongly impress the 
souls of men who are investigating today that they 
know a great change is about to come, and those who 
are not blinded by all materialistic thought see be- 
yond and thru the things which seem to be dis- 
turbances and troubles, wars and such. The souls 
who are illuminated by the spiritual light penetrate 
these and see beyond into the bright tomorrow. 
Those of you today who are manifesting in the flesh 
can feel the change coming over the earth plane; 
some of you ask what it is, and some of you know it 
is the spiritual awakening ; it is a breaking through, 
we will say, from one realm to another when men in 
the flesh will manifest in a higher and more spiritual 
realm of thought than they ever have. 

The new day is upon us when we will see the world 
of spirit and the world of flesh walk hand in hand. 
Man has broken down the wall between the two 
worlds; the wall was composed of fear, ignorance, 
prejudice and superstition. . TODAY the wall is 
crushed and the unseen world of yesterday is seen 
and it touches the mind of almost every man in some 
way. Perhaps it came into your life only when the 
angel of death entered and lifted out one you loved 
and carried it into the tomorrow; and perhaps the 
voice of that one returned to speak, but in some way 
something has brought in close touch with you the 
unseen world, the consciousness of life after death. 
The wall has been overthrown and men in the flesh 
walk hand in hand with men whose flesh bodies are 
gone. 

Man who has reached the spiritual vision, who has 
turned the reflector, his mind, into the channel of 



THE NEW DAY 319 

spiritual things, penetrates the curtain and sees the 
tomorrow, yes, the glorious tomorrow which gleams 
thru the curtain. They are small lights as yet, but 
they mean perfect bodies free from disease. I see 
the light of spiritual healing coming into the con- 
sciousness of men all over the nations, and this small 
light is growing broader, as some souls are reach- 
ing out, following the light — instruments of flesh 
thru which the soul of man can manifest spiritually 
— it means equality of man, it means opportunity 
for all. 

In all your factories, in all your mines, in all 
places of labor there will be those who understand 
psychological laws which will place each individual 
man in his proper place where his work will be a joy 
and a pleasure to him, and where the fruits of his 
labor will be enjoyed by him and he will love and be 
loved ; he will be a reflector of the reflection of love. 
Gleams of that bright tomorrow are coming thru the 
curtain between this world and yours. 

No work, no job, no labor will be for men who are 
not fitted just for that particular work, and they will 
commune with the spirit ; there will be no fraud be- 
cause the coming generation will have within them 
so strongly developed at birth that sense of intuition 
that one cannot deceive his fellow-man without being 
detected. 

Behold, the gates of heaven will be revealed to 
men and their hearts shall be glad. These are all 
gleams, foregleams of the bright tomorrow, but take 
good care of the today. You have the today, tomor- 
is a promise; yesterday is a realization. Today is 
your opportunity, take it, apply it, live in the light 
of universal love. 



320 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

Oil, yesterday was dark; yesterday was a bloody 
age; yesterday called for sacrifices of flesh bodies 
back to earth ; it was an age of blood ; but you can 
feel its close and you can see the dawn of a new day. 
Yesterday leaves upon the book of history a bloody 
mark; the earth plane is stained with blood — poor 
man, little did he realize that he could not kill the 
soul of his fellow-man. 

And the today — oh, what a housecleaning — when 
the sunshine comes it shows to you all the unclean 
parts of the house, and it shows all the unclean parts 
of the world. Today is the sunny day, it is that 
sunny day which reveals the filth ; the day which re- 
veals the unkempt, the neglected, the many duties 
left undone. And then in man's eagerness to know 
how to overcome all this they form into groups here 
and into groups there and they talk and talk and ar- 
gue and plan and quarrel, and then argue more — and 
while they are doing this there is brewing all over 
the world the germ, we will say, of destruction ; the 
little seed left over from the yesterday, and the sun 
is bringing it forth into such a monster that they 
cannot help but see it, cannot help but feel it ; but all 
of this time they have been blinded to the little hid- 
den corners of the earth, they have lived in their 
own little thought of selfishness, but now they see the 
monster coming up about them — and now comes the 
struggle. 

That which you have called war, that which has 
been so destructive, and which called for the shed- 
ding of blood is not dead yet ; the monster still lives ; 
it is not going to bring forth war, no, but hunger, 
deprivation and great discomfort to the physical, but 
do not prepare the weapons which destroy physical 



THE NEW DAY 321 

bodies for you cannot kill the soul. You cannot de- 
stroy that which is created for the purpose of at- 
taining perfection. 

Man will find that the greatest weapon is love ; and 
thru all the bitterness of today, thru all the different 
avenues, man is coming into the realization that all 
mankind are God's children; that the sons of God 
walk with you and talk with you, and the sons of God 
are you and you and you; so why divide God's chil- 
dren into classes, into denominations, into sects, into 
nations f 

They are all God's children and heirs to the king- 
dom. 

In that new day (whose very dawn you can see) 
babes born into the flesh will have a greater concep- 
tion of things — they will know love. Man is just be- 
ginning to rise out of that mercenary thought which 
is rampant upon your earth today; it is the resurrec- 
tion of man ; he begins to see that there is something 
else ; he has reached that stage of mental progres- 
sion where his spiritual vision reveals to him the 
things which are to come. Then he will know that it 
is not the things which he can hold only for a time 
that are worth striving for, but the things which he 
can hold for all time — the things of the soul, truth, 
sympathy, love. 

Now, man has lived so much in that physical realm 
of thought that he has created a great power, the 
great master which holds him; he wants to grasp 
more and more material wealth ; but all things which 
are not of God go on and on circling and circling 
until they destroy themselves ; and that part of them 
which is of God rises into the higher realm of spirit. 

Reach out to that new day, and know that Truth 



322 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

is non-sectarian, undenominational. No church, no 
body of people, no groups of people can gather in all 
of the Truth and name it and have it. No difference 
where it may be expressed, under what name it may 
be, the Truth will bring to man the realization of the 
presence of spirit. The great destructive force 
which is passing over and all about your planet to- 
day is the creation of man's mortal or physical mind. 
It is not of spirit — and it is not God's will but it is a 
part of that immutable law, evolution. 

Man is struggling to rise out of that physical 
realm of thought. Man, rising upon that field be- 
smirched in blood has a thought of something be- 
yond; he feels the presence; and all over the battle 
fields are those whose bodies have sunk back to 
earth, but their souls are living and they are return- 
ing — some in sympathy, some in hate, because they 
carry with them their last thoughts and they bear 
them along for a time ; and when they discover that 
they can return (many know this before they leave, 
so they carry that thought with them that they will 
return, and they do) if they are full of vengeance 
and hate, they return that way. 

Every soul sent out of your plane of expression 
prematurely has a natural tendency and must return 
to the physical plane of expression and gather into 
itself more of the memories, more of the thoughts of 
the physical. And this is the price of the new day; 
this is the price of that new light which man begins 
to feel and see. 

And now as man closes into that new day, he will 
grow into a wondrous universal thought, a wondrous 
equality, a universal plan which will manifest thru 
spirit, and man in the flesh will have a more spiritual 



THE NEW DAY 323 

vision of things. He will carry his sorrows to the 
loved ones in the new life, he will carry his cares to 
them, not for selfish purposes, not for material gain, 
but where he will find pure love and sympathy — and 
he is bound to grow into a purer and clearer light. 

In the new day the sixth sense, intuition, will be 
highly developed — not much chance for deception 
for man will be able to discern the truth. And when 
the close of this age comes all the lower thoughts 
that have accumulated thru that day will end in a 
great night — but it will not be a bloody night. There 
will not be the mercenary spirit which exists today, 
it is closing today ; you cannot see it, but it is the be- 
ginning of that closing when man cannot buy things 
with his money — it is coming — you think you are 
suffering now, but you are not. You are going to be 
hungry and suffer physically, and you are going to 
know that it is not money that will bring physical 
comforts — only thru the concentration of spirit can 
you receive the comforts of the physical. 

Mind can overcome the condition of matter; and 
men will reach out; they will find that there is no 
way to comfort that physical body, then what shall 
they do? They will reach out into spiritual things 
and they will find the powers of the mind ; and thru 
the mind and spiritual thought they will be able to 
satisfy that body as much as it is required. And 
man will find that he will live without suffering ; and 
the little portions of food that will be given to him 
will be plenty. You don't need to eat the ninetieth 
part of what you do consume. You are going to 
learn to quit eating flesh. Think of a man or woman, 
endowed with the spirit which reflects the great God, 
killing animals and consuming flesh, blood ! But the 



324 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

blood day is passing away, and then the animals will 
grow fewer in number because your plane is passing 
into a higher expression, and it will not be many 
years — I can see the day just beyond when a little 
animal will be a friend, that which will carry a mem- 
ory of long ago in the blood day. 

These things are being revealed to you who are 
investigating and you are beginning to know why; 
and you shall go forth and teach men how to satisfy 
their bodies thru the minds. That day is not so far 
but that a calendar could be printed which would 
show you the date. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? But 
it is not, because man must learn how to satisfy his 
flesh body without thinking that he must crush any 
living creature to do it. 

The price of mortal and physical thought is being 
and shall be paid, and those who are not giving their 
life blood shall suffer physically otherwise. It is the 
night of that day, and the morning is coming when 
they who are spiritual teachers shall walk in your 
midst. 

When the waves of the souls of the physical lives 
which have been cut away shall be walking about 
you, you must learn to help those souls who were 
sent from the earth before their time, and who are 
returning to finish their physical expression. Man 
has just so many experiences thru which he must 
pass in the physical, and if man takes it upon himself 
to send a soul into that new life before it is time, he 
has got to pay his debts. They are his, and every 
drop of blood that falls upon any man be on his 
own head. 

As man becomes more enlightened along the great 
seemingly hidden laws of life, there will be less 



THE NEW DAY 325 

abortion; there will be no murders; there will be no 
suicides ; there will be less insanity, and soon there 
will be none. There will be great changes in the 
bodies of human beings, because as the mind, the 
spiritual inner powers of the mind, will become more 
unfolded during the physical expression, the bodies 
will change — why, even today they are finding parts 
of the human body which they claim has no more use 
and as it becomes diseased they take it out ; and they 
say, perhaps it will become imperfect, so they re^ 
move it any way. 

Not so very far off in the future, children will be 
born with many organs missing, those that are being 
removed by physicians today. 'Tis true they re- 
move them because they are diseased, but it is an- 
other expression of the unfoldment of man that they 
do these things ; and minds are inspired to do these 
things because they are playing their part in the 
great law of evolution. They cannot see this; it 
would not be well perhaps for some of them to see it, 
but they are instruments in the hands of the Infinite, 
they are playing their part in the great law of evo- 
lution, the great change is coming upon you. 

Oh, you are standing upon the threshold of one of 
the greatest changes of the universe ; there are com- 
ing very pronounced changes. The sixth sense will 
be highly developed; even today you will notice this 
in the little ones who are coming into the physical 
expression. If you look back over the pages of his- 
tory, you will see that only a few had this sense or 
quality — and they were burned — crucified — killed — 
their bodies were killed. Why? Because men were 
spiritually blind, they had not a clear understand- 
ing. Even today in your own state some of you are 



326 THE DESCENDING. LIGHT 

spiritually blind — for so long as man will take the 
life, the physical life of another man, no difference 
what his crime is, he is getting behind in the great 
law of evolution. You are dropping out and not 
keeping up with the onward march of God's justice 
when you take into your own hands the robbing of a 
soul of the instrument for expression upon the earth 
plane, because he will still manifest. He will still 
finish that expression — he must — and he will attach 
himself to some poor weak minded person who dares 
to reach into the field of investigation — not looking 
for knowledge, but simply for manifestation. 

You are living in the dawn of the new day when 
the light of spirit shall show itself thru the souls of 
all men; when man will learn to listen to the still 
small voice within, when man will know his spirit 
within. This great white light is descending upon 
you. 

Men's souls are crying out for more knowledge of 
the things of God, more light, more soul food. Do 
you know why your souls are starving? You have 
fed your physical bodies and have forgotten your 
souls — take a little while each day to feed your souls, 
your hungry souls, to think of those things which 
are of the greatest importance. Those things which 
perhaps you cannot touch, cannot see, cannot hear, 
but the things that you feel within your soul are the 
important things. 

There is no end to the possibilities of man's mind; 
there is no secret which man cannot fathom were he 
to go into the silence and search for it in God's holy 
light — but man looks to the material things — what a 
wrong it is to hold the spirit down to the material. 

The great light from over the way is touching the 



THE NEW DAY 327 

consciousness of man in the flesh, and many sonls 
who never thought of spirit communion feel the 
spiritual light descending upon them and they see it 
thru the color of their own spiritual light. 

The spiritual man never ceases to progress, and 
today in the physical body are walking the greatest 
number of great thinkers and great minds that ever 
manifested on the earth plane at any one time. The 
wondrous power of thought manifesting thru man- 
kind today is bringing into manifestation the dream 
of Christ, — the Christ who labored to bring man out 
of slavery into equality and make them what they 
are, manifesting spirits, portions of the great God- 
head. 

The day is coming in your world when no man 
shall live in luxury thru the sweat of another man's 
brow. They are killing men today only to bring back 
the souls of those men to fight a stronger fight for 
the great cause. That day is coming, and a great 
number of you are going to live in it. Is it not worth 
the struggle? Is it not worth a few days of hunger 
and deprivation to see everywhere peace and happi- 
ness? When you will be able to send forth freely, 
without bitter criticism, your soul's thought? Oh, 
the great new day when all men shall speak freely 
their soul's thought; when God will manifest truly 
thru his son, mankind; when all men will serve hu- 
manity, lift, build, and grow the things of spirit. 
The life of Christ was to uplift the crushed and fal- 
len that they might come forth and express their 
thoughts — and the dreams of Christ are coming 
about. 

Some are looking for the end of the world. Is it 
the destruction of the clay upon which you walk, or 



328 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

is it the destruction of the materialistic world in 
which you live? Is it not the spiritual resurrection 
within man's consciousness 1 ? 

Man is coming into this wondrous realization, he 
is waking from his deep sleep and sees the dawn of 
the bright new day, and things which are of spirit, 
things which are beyond the mortal mind of man, 
come upon him with so much force that he cannot 
comprehend them. 

When we say that it is possible for one to make 
himself perfect, man thinks of his mortal body, be- 
cause all mind about him is deeply saturated with 
mortal thought, but man shall know himself and 
serve his brother; he shall reach out, not to a God 
upon a throne who would cast him into torment, but 
to a God of pure spirit, a God of perfection, a God 
which no man can comprehend with mortal mind. 
Lift your souls in spiritual prayer and let the spirit 
speak to you. 

Mortal thought is going to be a thing of the past, 
because the new generation will have developed the 
sixth sense — intuition. Mother nature is sending 
out into the universe more and more of the desires 
of the minds attuned to spirit. There will be no 
creeds, there will be no power to command you, be- 
cause the spirit of God will reign. 

What is the spirit of God? It is the greatest 
power you have within you today — and this shall be 
manifested everywhere. The great Theocracy shall 
reign, when man shall see thru the divine light of 
love and knowledge. There will be no hate because 
man will see by intuition why it is so ; and sympathy, 
compassion and love you will hold for your brothers 
who are not so much enlightened as you. 



THE NEW DAY 329 

In that great new day there shall be no dominating 
minds manifesting for all men will seek spiritual un- 
foldment, and this will bring about the universal 
brotherhood of man. There will be no resting upon 
the hope of redemption thru the sacrifice of the body 
of Jesus ; that grand and glorious spirit manifested 
in the body to bring men up from the downtrodden 
paths of sin in which they walked. His body, 
as many others, was sacrified to the great cause of 
the upliftment of mankind — but you cannot be saved 
by that. You create all the conditions in which you 
live ; and if you place an obstacle in the way of your 
fellow-man, multiplied will be the obstacles in the 
way of your progression. 

But all about you on the physical plane of expres- 
sion shall be peace. Can you believe it? It seems 
impossible to you that all minds will dwell in one 
harmonious thought, bringing forth harmonious 
notes of truth. It is impossible to describe, the great 
day whose dawn you are witnessing, in the language 
of today, for the soul has no language, and it will be 
the day of the soul's unfoldment. It is the day when 
man shall think naught of walking by the side of 
those departed, the day when all men shall feel the 
divine presence of the risen spirit of Christ; the 
day when public mediums shall not exist — what are 
mediums? They are only minds that are reaching 
into another realm of expression. There will be no 
more need of them because you, as you unfold 
yourselves, can reach out even over the casket and 
touch the spiritual soul and feel and know it is 
there. There will be no possibility of being de-, 
ceived because the great day comes to you thru 
the great spirit which freshens the minds of all 



330 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

men, fertilizing their thought powers and bringing 
into existence the wonderful things which live 
within the temple of knowledge. 

There will be no kings or queens, there will be no 
man who will dare to tread upon you. Even as your 
planet is seemingly in such a discordant condition, it 
is only this : It is the birth pang of a newer dispen- 
sation that is being born into your world, the new 
light when man shall know himself, when man shall 
greet his brother with love and outstretched arms; 
when deceit shall not reign, but truth shall reign and 
men shall be guided by the invisible light, and all 
that is mortal, all that is earthy, shall pass away. 

From the higher realms of spirit penetrating thru 
all that coarser vibration are coming the minds 
which bear to your world fragments of that harmo- 
nious ALL, and they shall teach man how to live, 
how to do, for the day is rapidly advancing when all 
things from the world of spirit shall be of benefit to 
you and to all mankind. Thru the touch of the spir- 
itual world peace will come. 

The time is not far distant when the word "dead" 
will be obsolete, when it will have no meaning, when 
all things will be known as living; when transition 
takes place there will be rejoicing to know that your 
brothers and sisters have shed the burden of the cor- 
poreal body. 

Man in his unfoldment is coming into a realm of 
thought which is so far beyond his conception as yet 
that he can hardly realize what has come to pass. 
He is beginning to awaken to the fact that his mind 
can govern his flesh body to such a degree that he 
can build and improve any organ, and that day is not 
very far distant. Why, you smile, but the day is 



THE NEW DAY 331 

coming when man's mind can create or destroy any 
organ within the body. By properly manipulating 
the mind upon these organs and thru that touching 
upon different organs of the flesh body man can and 
will build and rebuild his flesh body that he may 
hold it just as long as he desires, until he shall have 
risen out of all the desires of the flesh, when he shall 
have outgrown all the things of this plane then he 
shall lay aside his flesh body and pass into that 
higher expression. Man's soul will grow and grow 
until his body is- old, wrinkled, bent and gray, bent 
down to mother earth ; and it will be a stronger as- 
tral body that he will step into — man is touching 
upon the very edge of this today. 

Man has discovered some of the wonderful powers 
in the universe, but he is going to make more won- 
derful discoveries in the next ten years which will 
make your place today in electricity, or the accom- 
plishments thru it, seem crude. You now have men 
who are able to reach the vibration of the astral 
plane. 

Man is rising out of the things which have said to 
him that by placing his enemy out of the physical 
expression he is putting an end to all combativeness. 
Man is rising out of that realm wherein he feels that 
strength is greatness ; he is rising out of that realm 
which bespeaks commercialism, which speaks of 
avarice and hate and selfishness — rising out of it, 
and ascendant from the realms of it all will come 
man, real man, God's created creature. It is the 
passing of the dead day, that day of hate, of com- 
mercialism; that day when man would bind a por- 
tion of the land and call it his; that day that man 
would wish to crush any living creature, let alone 



332 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

man. That day is passing thru the death pangs and 
from that death it shall never return. In the cen- 
turies to come, men of the new day will read in hor- 
ror of the things promoted and helped by some of 
you here. 

The old-time conception of GTod is this: The 
strong man was the most godly man, and then it 
came to be the richest man held the greatest honor — 
now comes the death of that day and the spiritual 
thought of man survives. Man's soul is rising out 
of it ; his body may have gone back to earth, crushed 
by his brother, yet his soul lives to return, to lift and 
to show man in this new day the error of it all. 

The dawn of the new day is descending upon you 
and lighting the old day struggling in the pangs of 
death. The old day will die never to rise, for it is 
death to things which are mortal, and things which 
are mortal are not of the spirit; things which are 
mortal are not of God. Yes, things which are of 
hate, avarice, murder, which are not of the universal 
thought, pass back to earth, a dead memory. 

Man shall live and walk in the holy light of spirit ; 
he shall not even crush an animal that he might eat ; 
he will then pluck the luscious fruit from the trees 
when nature sends him forth for food ; he will gather 
from the gardens things which are meant to sustain 
his body, and the food for his soul from the great 
tree of spiritual light — he will reach for the sacred 
things of spirit. He will not gather to himself earth- 
ly treasures, for the more of the things he can gather 
from the great universal thought, from that great 
tree which is satisfaction to the hungry soul, then he 
will taste of God 's day, then will he know that he is 
the son of God. 



THE NEW DAY 333 

When men will place their minds in tune with 
the Infinite spirit of perfection, the world will be 
governed thru God — God's will be done on earth as 
it is in heaven — Theocracy, the great new plan — na- 
ture gives birth to it and you are a part of it. Oh, 
Theocracy! when you join hands with democracy, 
man shall know that God lives within him; when 
Theocracy clasps the hands of its sister, democracy, 
man shall know, man shall think, and there will be no 
spiritual blindness about the earth plane. The great 
white light is descending and closely behind democ- 
racy is Theocracy — but it is beyond the comprehen- 
sion of man today. 

The great day of Theocracy is bound to come 
when all things shall be governed by God, the highest 
conception of ALL GOOD — and all the good within 
you will come forth to aid in the government of this 
nation and all nations. 

Rise, brothers and sisters, study yourselves, reach 
higher and higher for spiritual light, and ask from 
the spirit world only those things which will be for 
the upliftment of mankind; ask for those things 
which are good and which will illuminate your soul's 
home. Step into that field of light which is yours, 
find the little things you can do to help to build for 
that perfect plan which shall manifest upon the 
earth plane. Theocracy, the great new plan, un- 
born, but behold ! nature gives birth to it, and some 
of you will live in the flesh to see, to know, to feel — 
and some of you shall vision it from the summer 
land; yes, you shall see it. 

Rise, brothers and sisters, be a part of the dawn ; 
a part of the soft sun 's rays as it rises to illuminate 
the new day for man. Be ministering angels of God 



334 THE DESCENDING LIGHT 

and not among the thinkers whose thoughts are a 
part of the dead day. 



(This book was ready for publication over two 
years ago. Note the prophecies, some of which are 
now being fulfilled.) 



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